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SOME PROBLEMS 






RURAL LIFE 



CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS 

TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOLARS 



GOOD ROADS 



TRAVELING LIBRARIES 



HARRY H. STONE, A. M. 

PROFESSOR APPLIED MATHEMATICS, EMORY COLLEGE 
PRESIDENT BOARD EDUCATION, NEWTON COUNTY, GA. 



REPRINTED FROM 

GEORGIA STATE SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS REPORT 
MESHODIST REVIEW 
COVINGTON ENTERPRISE 



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1 



CONSOLIDATION OF 
RURAL SCHOOLS 

AND 

TR ANSPO RT AT ION 
OF SCHOLARS. 



♦«»«^« 



HARRY H. STONE, A. M. 

PROFESSOR APPI^IED MATHEMATICS EMORY COLLEGE. 
PRESII>F.XT nOARD KDI'OATION NEWTOX COl^'TY. OA. 



♦ 4»^ 



Reprinted From The Covingtoi Enterpriie and 
Georgia State School Commiisioner's Report. 
1908. 



1 



One of the grave questions which presents itself to those having to 
deal with rural schools is the advisability of consolidating several weak, 
struggling schools into a single one of some vigor and strength. 

With many patrons — with too many patrons — ^ school is a school. 
There is but little care as to whether the school is doing what it should 
be required to do — namely, develop to the best advantage the mental 
strength and growth of the individual child. It satisfies many to 
know that the child is "^oi::g to school," without stopping: to think 
that some schools may strengthen while others may stunt intellectual 
growth — some may develop while others may dwarf. 

Ihere is a vast difference between a school and a spelling shop. 

There are many difficulties surrounding the education of our chil- 
dren living outside the towns, some of which occur to us and whi-ih 
we make spasmotic efforts to overcome, but we remain either ignorant 
of many of them or else we are indifferent. 

The common sch(jol course of study provides for seven grades, 
each covering a school year of seven or eight months. 

How many parents living in the country send their children to 
school seven months a year and how many children attend seven years? 
Many think it quite sufficient to send two or thre? months each year 
and are not very insiacant upon that much. Unfortunately some are 
compelled by stress of circumstances to have tho help of their children 
in the work upon the farm and are i'orced to make the school attend- 
ance shoit. 

It is all the more necessary then ti increase the efficiency of the 
school that the scholar thus limited in his res uirces may have the be?!t 
opportunity to develop while it lasts. 

Possibly we might the better study our problem should we s^.iie 
day when out driving pay a visit of inspection to some of our rural 
schools, and study our problem at short runge. 

Should we visit one of our country one-teucher schools, we would 
probably find unattractive surroundings — the sclmo! h<m8e in Inid re- 
pair, poorly heatpd and ventilatpd, with windows deficient hoth a:? tn 
quantity and quality. The local trustees are &ood men with the 
public welfare at heart, but too frequently of the opinion that they 
best serve the public by getting everything dono at the least cos^, pos- 



sible — looking rather to cheapness than to efficiency. Rarely are they 
willing to suppleuieut the small salaries paid from the "public fuud'^ 
and the teacher must be content with that or go elsewhere for a job. 
Everything takes on more or less of a shoddy appearance ; there is not 
enough that looks genuine and substantial to fully gain the confidence 
and respect of the pupils, nor to arouse desire for knowledge and men- 
tal training in the hearts of prospective scholars. 

Entering the school room we find from twenty to thirty-five chil- 
dren, ranging from six to eighteen years of age, in various stages of 
advancement. In the effort to reduce the number of recitations per 
day to auch shape that each may receive some attenti(.n the teachet 
has been compelled to put many scholars in classes in which they do 
not properly belong — some have been ''turned back", going over and 
over studies whicn they are supposed to have completed, while others 
hive been put forward too much and are in water where they cannot 
wade, nor have they sufficient experience to swim. Instead of mental 
activity and development for which our schools should stand, we have 
here stagnation and death. The few pupils who may be properly 
Classed necessarily receive but scant attention, nor is it likely that 
their ambition is aroused or their mental faculties quickened by such 
tturroundings. Occasionally, we see some strong-minded pupil fi^ht 
through these adverse conditions and grow all the stronger by reason 
of the very difficulties which have been overcome; but such cases are 
all too rare and are developed not by tha one-teacher school, but in 
spite of it. 

The teacher, who seem? well equipped for her work, calls our at- 
tention to the schedule of recitations which she is supposed to hear 
e-4ch day :-— 

Chart Grade — Three to four recitations per day. 

First (Reader) Grade — Four periods per day. This includes nura 
ber, work, etc. 

^Second (R'^ader) Grade — Reading (2), Number work, Spelling, 
Language work. 

Third (Reader) Grade — Reading, Arithmetic, Spelling, Language 
work. Home Geography. 

Fourth (Reader) Grade — Reading, Arithmetic, Spelling, English 



Lessons, History alternating witti Geography. 

Filth Grade— Reading, Arithmetic, English, Spelling, History al- 
ternating with Geography, Lessons in Physiology and Hygiene. 

Sixth Grade— History of Georgia alternating with U. S. History, 
Arithmetic, English Grammar, Spelling, Higher Geography alterna- 
ting with Agriculture. 

Seventh Grade — Civil Government alternating with U. S. History, 
Arithuietic, English Grammar, Spelling, Higher Geography alternat- 
ing with Elementary Physiology. 

You will notice she says: "I am expected to hear 

The Chart Class — Fcur recitations per day, 

First Grade — Four recitations per day, 

Second Grade — Five recitations per day, 

Third Grade — Five recitations per day, 

Fourth Grade — Fire recitations per day, 

Filth Grade — Six recitations per day, 

Sixth Grade — Five recitations per day, 

Seventh Grade — Five recitations per day. 

This makes a total of thirty-nine recitations per day that lam ex- 
pected to hear, which is a matter of physical impossibility. I have, 
from very neceseiity, combined several of the classes, so as to reduce 
the number to where they all may be "heard". 

I am conscious that my pupils are not receiving their dues nor am 
I doing mvself justice as a teacher. I am fast drifting into a mere 
hearer oi lessons, looking more to having the pupils give the "answer 
in the book" than to the awakening ot his intellect and the proper 
discipling of his mental faculties. Nor am I doing myself justice as 
an individual — the physical strain is too severe and the nervous ten- 
sion too great where I try to put anythii g like the energv and vim in- 
to my work which I should. Moreover, I have no time to devote to 
pupils who mean well, but are naturally a little slow — possibly a lit- 
tle dull, vet who, with patient and continued effnrt, might be devel- 
oped into most reliable and satisfactory pupils. My time for each 
recitation is too short and with many other recitations pressing on me 
I must per force leave these undeveloped minds groping in the dark — 
if haply they may find the light without the help which a few minutes 



— 4— 

of extra time would have allowed me to give. Most frequently this 
type become discourai^ed by repeated failure and quit school for busi- 
ness, or, must needs go over and over the same ground from year to 
year, taking several years to do the work that should have been ac- 
complished in one" 

We leave the school with the impression that in spite of the de- 
sire there may be on the part of the parent, in spite of the effort on 
the part of the pupil, and in spite of the great expenditure of nervouH 
force and energy on t je part of the faithful teacher, the school is not 
accomplishing its purpose — a tragedy is being enacted — help is needed 
— childhood has asked for bread and we have given it a stone. 

In the course of our drive we shortly pass another school house 
wherein we see enacted the same assault with contempt upon an edu- 
cation, and only a few miles away a third passes before our review — 
these apples of Sodom that seem so promising and fair to view, but 
which turn to ashes when put to the test. 

Suppose we visit the school over in the village yonder. As we 
approach we notice that the house is much larger an<i the g-ounds bet- 
ter kept, — all the surrouiidings are more inviting. We are told that 
some eighty pupils attend this school and that there are three teachers. 
Naturally, from the increased number of patrons over the one-teacher 
schools, we find that there are more here wtio are interested in the 
comfort and pleasure of the pupils believing that children should be 
bettt^r housed than live stock and that the school room should be the 
most attractive room the child ever enters. 

We go into the primary room and are at once impressed by the 
surroundings, Hnre we fitid only the little folks of the Chart Class 
and First and Second (Reader) Grrades. E'/ervthing is projected on 
the basis of the youthful mind. Recesses are frequent — lessons are 
interspersed with songs by the scholars and by talks and storins by the 
teache-r — blackboard exercises and chalk talks are common. No little 
iiiind is allowed to be fagged or to become stagnant. All are happy 
and bright, alive, active and growing Is it any wonder that under 
such conditions the little child learns to read in half the time he would 
at the one-teacher school, and that he almost unconsciously learns to 
write and to draw. 



— 5- 

Iii the Iniermediate Room we find the Third, Fourth and Fifth 
Grades. Here we see the school w^rk takinej on a more serious form. 
The scholars are not hindred, as they would be in a one-teacher school 
by the exercises of th-:) little folks, nor are they hampered by the pres- 
ence of their larger brothers aud sisters. There are no big boys to in- 
timidate, nor "young ladies" to tease — just a room full of bright, 
mischievous, happy children I Truly, they are the salt of the earth, 
and that teacher is to be esteemed blessed who gains their confidHuoe 
and love. Where else can she find more fruitful Soil or so great au 
opportunity? The Intermediate teacher gives her entire time and at- 
tention to these three grades. There is little hurrying through lessons 
for lack of time: she has sixteen lessons per day as against thirty-nine 
per day in the one-teacher school. There is now time for mental food 
to be chewed before it is swallowed and there is reason to expect prop- 
er digestion and consequent growth. There is more time to notice 
each scholar — to stimulate individual d.svelopmeat — to help the lag- 
gard and to inspire the dull. 

In the Principal's room we find the Sixth and Seventh Gradns 
pursuing lines of work which aiv so closely related that there is more 
ot less of a bond of common interest throughout the entire room. The 
absence of the younger pupils removes many attendant distractions 
and causes the older pupils to have greater respect for the subjects 
which they are trying to master. More time is possible for such 
studi<*8 as promote thought and reason. Higher Arithmetic and 

Uranimar more nearly receive their ju^t deserts. Problems may be 
solved and sentences construed, not as so many puzzles to be bandied 
by some ff^at of jugglery, the various parts being made to fit by main 
strength and ignorance, but time is given to stuny the prijjciples in- 
volved and to apply them to the individual or particular case under 
consideration More opportunity is given to d>^velop uiental inde- 
pendence and confidence in one's own powers. Th-^ pupil's ediicitiou 
is not so much a cramming process but one of assimitutii u and growth. 

The Principal tells u^ that in a school wh^re t^o assistants are 
employed it is possible to introduce into the cuiriculum studi'^s out^ 
side of thb Common Scho«»l c-iurse of study — such as Algebra, Geome- 
try, Latin, and possibly Gr ek and French — the trustees of the school 



being respousible for the pay of the teachere for this work indepeud- 
eut of the Public School Fund. The pupils who may desire to atteud 
College may be prepared for entrance while still living at home. 

He also calls our attention to the fact that while additional teach- 
ers in a school make the Principal's work more pleasant that it is not 
made thereb> less laborious. The real gainer from additional teachers 
ig not the Principal buw the individual pupils. 

In a school of two teashers, the pupil receives theoretically twice, 
and in one of three teachers, three times the attention and individual 
consideration that he does in the single teacher school — in reality it is 
veiy many times as much; for in a single teacher school where all 
grades are represented, there is practically no such thing as individual 
inatruelion, and the special consideratioi: of the needs of a particular 
scholar \s a practical impossibility. Differing minds need different 
treatment as much as differing soils need different cultivation. One 
part of the cri»p may be on sandy soil, ar)other on clayey soil — one 
part may be on "upland," another part on "bottom land" — one part 
may have? never suffred a day for rain, another part may have had but 
little rain. Will the bnst results be obtained by usin^ the same style 
of plow and the same form of cultivation over the entire plantation, 
or will not the skillful farmer suit the style of his plow and the depth 
of his furrow to the particular part of the crop he is then developing- 
That farmer is most successful who most nearly gives to each plant in 
his crop the exact cultivation and the exact fertilizer which it may 
need to bring it to its highest perfnction. So that teacher is moat suc- 
cessful who comes nearest stimulating and inspiring each pupil to de- 
velop and perfect that which is b«st in himself or herself 

We leave this school with a good ta^te in our mouths. Here wh 
have seen life — here we have seen growth — here there is hope for the 
mental development of our children — here they may have the oppor- 
tuiiity nut only to acquire facts and figures, but be trained to think 
through a pro5>lem for themselvfrs. Freed from the narrownf^ps aad 
littleness and prejudice which is so often attendant upon ignorance 
thev are enriched not only by the information thu*: they may receive 
but by that broadening process of learin'ng to see things as others may 
sec them — by learning to reason. 



As we conclude our drive and repass the three oue-teacher schools 
the thought occurs to us : Why is it that those schools are not accom- 
plishing the results that the school just left is accomplishing? Is it 
because the teachers are not so well qualified? Truth compels us to 
saj that the teachers in the smaller schools seemed every whit as ca- 
pable as those in the larger one — they ho'd the same grade of license 
and seem in every way ao competent. 

Is it then because the pupils are duller or less ambitious? We can 
not admit that for an instant, for they have sprung from a common 
stock— in many cases they are blood relations and have equal capabil- 
ities and aspirations. 

The answer comes involuntarily that in the one case the almost 
impossible is being attempted — in the other case rational means are 
employed to accomplish results. 

It is man.festly out of the question to put two additional teikcherg 
into each of the small schools — there is now barely enough salary for 
Oiie; but can we not bring the three schools with the three teachers 
to one location and organize them into a graded school with principal 
and two assistants, dividing the scholars out among the three teachers, 
or even two teachers, on a basis of school advaucement, thus giviiig 
the children "a chance." 

The idea of the consolidutiou of severtil weak schools into a siugln 
strong school is no Lew one. As far buck as 18G9 Masisachiisntt^ en- 
acted the following law : — 

"Any town in the Commonwealth maj- raise oy taxation or otherwise and 
appropriate, money to be expende«i by the school committee in their discre- 
tion in providinji for the conveyance of pupils to and from the public schools." 

Superintendent Eaton, of Ooricord, Mass., says in a pftinphl^t 
published in 1898: — 

"At first the authority was used mainly to convey pupils to the high school. 
Within a few years, however, many communities have uaed this authority to 
increase the educational advantages of the children, constantly decreasing in 
numbers, who live in districts a^ a distance from *he center of population. 
This has been accomplished by closing many district schools and transporting, 
at public expf'nse, th«>ir pupils to the neighboring district scho' Is or to the 
village " 

The schools of Monti^gue were consolidated in 1875. In the s^nv 
1898 Seymore Rockwell, the school committeem -.n of Mnmague, s^aid: 



— 8— 

"For eighteen years we ha'^e had the best attendance from the transported 
children: no more sickness among them and no accidents, the children like 
the plan exceedingly. We have saved the town at least .^600.00 a year. All 
these children now attend a well equipped school house at the center. The 
sch'jols are graded: everybody is converted to the plan. We encountered all 
the opp')sition found anywhere, out we asserted our sensible and legal rights, 
and accomplished the work. I see no way of bringinic the country schools 
up but to consolidate them, making them worth seeing: then the people will 
be more likely to do ;heir duty by visiting them," 

The followiiig extracts are made from tne reports from other lo- 
calities lu Massachusetts: — 

*'A few j'ears ago the town tried to "double up" the schools and convey' the 
pupils, but the people would not listen to the suggestion, mainly through ig« 
Dorance. '•■ * * Attempted to build a new school house atid grade the schools, 
but bitter opposition upon the part of the older people defeated the plan. * * 
* We believe iu closing the schools when it can be done. * * "^ Once when a 
man wanted to sell his larm he advertised, 'A school near.' Now he adver- 
tises, 'Chileren conveyed to good schools.' Farms sell more readily now." 
Transportation of pupils has stoadily grown in favor in the small 
state of Massachusetts, a territory about one-seventh the size of Geor- 
gia. And in this comparatively limited area with a population little 
larger than Georgia, the expenditure for convnyance ot schoolchildren 
was in 1888-89, $22,118.88; five years later in 1898-94, it was $(33.- 
617.68; four years later in 1897-98, it was almost twice ss much, 
$123,082.41, while in 1905-06 it fiad almost doubled itself again, 
rc^achmg the sum of $236,415.40. 

Accordin;^ to the repv)r»: of U. S. Commissioner of Education the 
practice of consolidating two or more small schools and transp >rtmg 
the more distant pupils of the discontinued schools to the central 
8.;houl at the public expense has been resorted to either under specific 
provisions or under the general aulhc^rity of the law, in the followii g 
State*;: California, Colorado, Coiniecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, 
X'wa, Kansas, Maine, .Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, 
(1903), Nebraska, New Hampshire. N»'W Jer.sey, New York, Nonh 
Dak'Jta, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, 
V-^rmoht, VirgiLiia (1903), Washington and Wisconsin. 

Muiiie expends 3.60% of her school money for transportation, 
Vermont 3.71%, and Massachusetts 3 20%. 

Probabl\ the first practical tiial of consolidation in the central 



— 9— 

sectioM of the United States was made in Kingsville towiisliip, Ash- 
tabula County, Ohio, in 1892, and so great a notoriety did its success 
bring about that the coDPolidation of schools is generally spoken of 
throughout the Central Western States as the **Kingsville Plan." 

The need for the erection of a new school building in one of the 
districts of Kingsville township was the occasion of the decision to 
abaiidon the school at that point and transport the pupils at public ex- 
pense to the central school. To do this, local legislation was neces- 
sary. A bill was franit^d which, while seemingly general, was, in re- 
ality, by reason of its restrictions concerning population, aimed to 
cover the case of Kingsville township alone. This was done to gain 
the support of such legislators as might oppose a law covering all the 
townships of the State but willing to allow any one township to offer 
itself as a sacrifice, should it so d^^sire. 

A writer in the Arena for July, 1899, describes this school. 

"The resid.-nts of the sub-districts of Kingsville township wh'ch have adopt- 
ed this plan, would deem it a retrojiresaion to go back to the old sub-district 
plan. It has given the school system of Kingsville an iudivlduality which 
makes it unique and progressive Pupils from every part of the township en- 
joy a graded school education, whether they live in the most remote corner of 
the township or at the very doors of the central school. The line between 
the country bred and the villavie bred youth is blotted out. They study the 
same books, are competitors for the same honors, and engas;e in ihe same 
sports and pastimes. This mingling of the pupils from the sub-districts and 
the village has had a deepening and broadening influence upon the former 
without any disadvantage to the latter. VVith the grading of the school and 
the larger number of pupils have come teachers of a more highly educated 
class. Higher branches of study are taught, the teachers are nvre conver- 
sant with the needs of their profession. The salaries are higher; the health of 
the pupils is preserved be ause they are not compelled to walk to school in 
slush, snow and rain, to sit with damp and perhaps wet feet in ill-ventilated 
buildings. Nor is there any lounging by the wa^sidv'. As the use ol ind^^- 
ceiit and obscene language is prohibited in the wagons all opportunities for 
quarreling or improper conduct on the way to a'»<l Iroai school are rt^inoved. 
The attendance is larger and in the sub districts which have taken advantage 
of the plan it has increased from 50 to 150 per cent in some cnses; truancy is 
unknown. It has lengthened the school years for some of the sub districts; 
it has increased the demands for farms in those sub districts which have 
adopted the plan, and real estate therein is reported more salablpf. All parts 



— lo- 
ot the towubiiip have been brought into closer touch and syn)pathy. The cost 
oi' mainteuauce is less than that of the chools under the sub district plan; the 
township has had no school houses to build; it has paid less for repair and 
luel. Since the schools were consolidated the incidental expenses have de* 
creased from $800.00 to $1100.00 per year to from $400.00 to $t)00.00 per 
year. In the first three years following its adoption KingsviJle township ac- 
tually saved $1000 00." 

Ill October, 1900, fcupt. 0. J. Keru, of Wiiiuebago County, 111., 
iu compaMy with State Superintendent Bagliss, visited some of the 
conaolidated scliools of Ohio. I quote from his report the following 
concerning the centralized school of Gustavus township, Trumball 
County, "where there was no village or village school, a place where 
country lile wa^ being preserved: " 

"The school building is located in the center ol the township. The school 
has been in operation lor two years. It is a four room school having a prin- 
cipal and three assistants. All the children of the township are brought to 
this central school and nine wagons are employed in iransporiation. 'J'he wa- 
gons are provided with curtains, lap-robes, soap-stones, etc., lor severe weath- 
er. The Board of Education exercises as much care in the selection of drivers 
as they do in teachers. The contra<t ior each route is let out to the lowest 
responsible bidder who is under boml to fulfill his obligations. The drivers 
are requiied to have the chilaien on the school grounds at 8:45 a. m , which 
does away with tardiness, and to leave for home at 3:45 p. ra The wagons 
call at ever}' farm house wlieie there are school children, the children thus 
stepping into the wagons at the roadside and are set down upon the school 
grounds. There is no tramping through the snow and mud and the attend 
ance is much increased and tar more regular. With the children under the 
control of responsible drivers, there is no opportunity for vicious conversation 
or the terrorizing of the little ones by some bully as they trudge homeward 
through the snow and mud from the district school. During the school year 
18Ii8-l)9, there were enrolled iu the grades below the hitih school eighty-two 
boys and fifty two girls; in the high school room seventeen boys and thirt\-five 
girls; making a lotal in the building of IH6 pupils The average monthly en- 
rollment for the entire school the past year was lt)o, while the average daily 
attendance was 77 1 per cent of the total enrollment This is a fact of great 
significance 1 he children are regular and are getting the benefit of such a 
course. Keep in mind that this school is not in a village, and the chidren 
are scattered over twenty-five square miles of territory 'the children are not 
tardy How do they do it? you ask \^ ♦^11, they do it, and that is e lOugh for 
me Any one who stands in that building and looks ar those children and 
wagons must be convincfd that here is the solution of the country school 



—11— 

problem. Because this problem is being solved in the country over six 
miles from the nearest railroad. There is an organ in every room and the 
walls are being decorated with pictures. They have started a librar}-. In the 
high-school room were fitty two enrolled, with fiftj' present. Here was an op- 
portunity for the big boys on every farm to get higher education and still be 
at home evenings secure from the temptations and dissipations of cit}' life. 
They rode home in the wagons with the children of the lower rooms; and thus 
were able to be of service on the farm. The building is a frame structure 
erected at a cost of $3000.00. It is heated by steam. The principal gets $80 
per month, while his assistants eacb received $27.50 per month. The wages 
of the assistants should be larger. Th« drivers receive respectively $22, $30, 
$18. $25, $30, $32, $16, $.^0. and $17 per month making an average of $1.25 
pr^r day. Before the adoption of the centralization the average daily attend* 
ance w»s 125 pupils. It has increased to 144 at the end of the second year 
and the principal told us that the attendanct; is increasing all the time. Be- 
fore the schools were centralized, the cost for the entire township was $2,9(*(). 
Now it is $3,156.00, being an increase of only $256.00 annually And as to 
the character of the school, who will claim that the nine scattiired schools were 
doing the work of a well graded four-room school? There is absolutely no 
comparison." 
But these illu.strations huve henn cnnfined to Northern latitudes. 
Th»^ problem which coiicirns us ni. re vitnlly is, 'Will consolidation 
and transportation work in Georgia's ruriil schools?' 

In the 84th Annual R^p^rt of the r)e[)arttnHi it- of Education, State 
ofO-orgia, County School Commissioner Dennis thus defccrthns the 
condition of the countrv schools in Putoatn Ooimty, Georojiu, before 
ynd alter consolidation : 

"Nothing was tauiiht beyiiud 'lie three K's and thit ver}' imperfectly The 
pa'rons as a rule 'houiihi nothing aliou' the school, and C'\red nothing lor ii, 
e.xcept perhaps to consider the position of teacher a gift of charity t<> be be- 
stowed upon some worthy person in the community. Only about half the 
children of school age v^ere ever enrolled, and not haW of these attended reg 
ularly. No progress was made Iroin year to year, lor the children actually for- 
g«)t during the long vair-ation of seven or eight months more than they learned 
at sell ol, and it required no special effort on their part. 

"About s xteen yenrs ago our County Boaril of Ivlucation decided to con- 
solidate the schools This reduction in the nunil)er of schools enabled the 
Board to offer better salaries. In consequence, a corps ol teachers was se 
cured that compare lavtTab'y with any county in the State. When needed 
two and three teachers were placed in the schools Better buildings at once 
began to up erected The charactrr of the work has improved to such an ex 



I . ■ 

tent that pupils leavitis our country schools enter Sophomore Class in the dif- 
ferent Colleges in the State and acquit themselves with distinction. The pa- 
trons became interested in the schools and in the education o( their children 
to a degree before unknown. The enrollment and averajje attendance steadily 
increased. In one instance the Board consolidated three small sch >ols into a 
single one, locating it out in a pine forest to which not a sinttle road led, and 
in sight of which not a single dwelling stood. Today there is quite a pro- 
gressive village with a pretty church, two up to date stores, and several hand- 
some modern dwellings. The school has two teschers, the principal of which 
has been in charge fifteen consecutive years and the assistant, just recently 
resigned, for nine consecutive years. The past term, and this is no better 
han the average for years past, every child of school age in the community 
attended school regularly, except four- Two of these had previously com- 
pleted the course, and two others, large boys, had stopped to work on the 
farm." 

Coming siiil nearer home, let ii8 take some •xamples of consoli- 
datioti and transportation from the schools of Newton County, Georgia. 
In 1903 the Board of Education of this (Newton) county decided 
to consolidate three small schools in Brewers diatricr into a single 
school. The territory served oy theae schooU was a long, narrow one 
between two rivers and the schools were almost in a line. At tirst 
the patrons in the entire ter-itory favored the idea of consolidating 
the schools, but when the new school was located some of the patrons 
of the two lower schools, disappointed that the middle school building 
was not selected as the site tor the consolidated school, refused to have 
any connection with the new school and opened a pr»vatrr school in 
the middle school building 

Those patrons who believed in consolidation went ahead and with 
some financial help from the county Board or Education purchased foui 
acres oi ground and erected on it a neat, substantial frame school house 
having f.ur rooms, each twenty by thirty feet, with two vestibules, 
each eight by twenty leet. Each class room is well ventilated and 
lighted by -ix lar^e windows and is well heated in winter by a stove. 
The windows are so arranged that the light cnmKs in from the side and 
rear of the room. There ift space for some thirty linear feet of black- 
board in each room. The rooms are ceiled on the side and overhead 
with matched plank. At the end of the school session the entire 
building can be converted into a temporary auditorium of forty by six- 



—13— 

ty f«;et, by removing the blackboards aud planks from the partitions 
to d height of nine or ten feet. Four teachers were placed in this 
8cho)l and as the territory to be served was a large one it was decided 
to employ four wagons in transporting the pupils. The Board had no 
experience in this work, but after carefully considering the matter, it 
was decided to furnish only the covered wagon bodies, requiring the 
contractors to turnish the rolling stock as well as the mules, harness 
and driver. 

These wagon bodies were thirteen feet long, made to fit on the bed 
of an ordinary two-horse wagon and were provided with springs and 
brakes. Two seats running almost the length of the body provided 
accommodations for twenty-six pupils. A short seat across the front 
w*»uld accommodate the driver and one or two additional pupils. The 
covering employed was twelve-ounce ducking. There were side and 
end curtains for bad weather and adjustable steps at the rear. This 
equipment cost the Board of Education about twenty-five dollars. 

One section of the verritory dijcl not seem to offer a sufficieiit num- 
ber of pupils for a two-horse wagon, su a body ten feet long, capable 
of carrying twelve pupils, was pr»jvided to fit ihe bed of a one-hor^e 
wagon. 

The contracts were let, the Board of Education furnishing the 
bodies bef'»re describe.!, the contractors furnishing rolling stock, 
driver, mules and harness at from $25 to $30 pnr school month tor two 
horse wagons and tor $17.50 per school mtmth for one-horse wagons. 
The wai^ons made their round each mornii.g on schedul*^, reaching the 
school some ten mitiures before opening time. Aguin in the atternoon 
they are at the schod building whe:i school is dismissed and the chil- 
dren are soon delivered, withour accident or deluy, at th<^ir homes if 
they live on the routn <»r at. the point near^^st their homes if they live 
back from the route. 

It was found impra"ticable, without great cobt, to take up each 
pupil at his own door and return him to the Hume each day. li\ the 
handling at the pupils the Board made use of the plan used for the dis- 
tribution of mail on the rural free delivery routes. In this the gov- 
ernment requires those who live off the road traversed by the mallear- 



—14— 

rier, to put his mail box on the road if he wishes the carrier to deliver 
his mail ; so the Board of Educatiou had to require those living off the 
road traveled by the school wagon to walk out to that road and board 
the wagon at the pcint nearest his home. 

A comparison of the Mixcn School two years after consolidation 
with the three schools which had been merged into it, at a time two 
years before that consolidation might be of interest. 

In 1902 the enrollment at Pleasant Grove was 47, and the average 
attendance was 48 per cent, of enrollment, at a cost to the public fund 
of six cents per pupil per day; at Stewart the enrollment was 70, with 
aa average attendance of 43 per cent, of enrollment, at a cost of six 
and two-thirds cents per pupil per day; at Alcova the enrollment was 
54, with an average attendance of 44 per cent, of enrollment, at a coat 
of eight and three tenths cents per pupil per day. 

In 1906 the enrollment at Mixon School was 184, with an average 
attendance of 66.7 per cent, of enrollment, at a cost of six and two 
thirds cents per pupil per day. This last figure includes the cost of 
transportation. 

The attendance at the three single schools had leen sufficient to 
warrant an assistant teacher at but one of them, and that for onlv 
twenty-seven days of the free term, the schools not being ablf^ to keep 
up an attendance which would allow them to continue but ninety-oiie, 
one hundred and one, and ono hundred and three days respectively — 
the Board of Education having a rule that when a school fails to make 
a certain attendance average it is discontinued as a public school for 
the balance of the free term. On account of the poor attendance 
jeopardizing the principal's salary under a rule of the Btmrd of Educa 
tion, which sf*al«'d the salary when the attendance fell below a certaiij 
standard, it v^as more or I'^ss difficult to secure principals having first 
grade license for these three individual schools. In 1902 one princi- 
pal held second tfrade license and the only assistant a third grade li- 
cense. In 1903 t«vo of the principals held second grad^^ license and one 
principal a third grade license; there was no assistant teacher that year. 

In 1906 at the iMixon School there were four teachers, each hold- 
ing first grade license and being college trained — two at Peabody Nor- 



—16— 

mal School, Nashville, and two at Wesleyau. The attendance was 
such as to warrant one assistant the entire free term of one hundred 
and thirty days, a second assistant for eighty days and a third assist- 
ant for seventy-five days — the number of assistant teachers being de- 
ternained by attendance of pupils according to a fixed rule of the Board 
of Education. In addition to this the patroiis were so enthusiastic over 
the school, that they ran an additional term of forty days, in which 
they met all expense of salaries and transportation and at which the 
average attendance was 104.2. 

At the same time a private school of some fifty scholars was being 
taught a mile and a third trom Mixon Scho.»l. 

As to the woik done by this consolidated school, let us hear a lit- 
tle testimony from some of its patmns. 

Mr. A. C. Heard, a farmer and one of the foremost citizens of 

Newton county, who lived jear the consolidated (Mixon) school and 

who has been a patron of Alcova school before coi solidat ion, writes 

under date of September 28, 1907 : 

•'You ask me for my opinion as to the work done by Mixon School as com 
pared to that oi the schools whose plcict* it took. 1 thiuk the first four terms 
(two yearSyl of Mixon School was worth more to the children than ten years of 
the Alcova. Pleasant Grove and Stewart Schools all put toj!;ether. As to the 
practical workinj^ of hauling the children to school all over the county, I am 
unable to say, but I can say that it has worked well in our district. The chil- 
dren seem to enjoy it and are always ready and anxious to j;o. It makes the 
attendance better. It has worked well with us, but I think the teachers deserve 
great credit lor the work they «lid in building up the Mixon School " 
Mr. R. F. Dick, one of the b^8t men in his section of Newton 

county, a patron of Mixon School and a frequent visit )r to the school, 

says: 

•*I consider the consolidated school much better than the old plan. I feel 
safe to say that my children advanced five times as lust while Professor Whit- 
worth tauj^ht for us as they did in our schools before. What we want and 
what we need is good teachers and good tran.sportation, regardless of cost ' 

Rev. A. C. Mixon, a teacher in our county schools for very many 
years, who has the respect and confidence of every man who knows 
him, and who lives near the consolidated school, says: 

"I ihink the people generally prefer the consolidated schools. It gives pres* 



—16- 



u^e to the pupils. Children and parents take pride in numbers I am hi{>hly 
pleased with hauling the children. It protects them from the inclemency of 
the weather, muddy roads and other dangers. By this means some little lellows 
can attend school who otherwise could not. The attendance of all is more 
regular.*' 

Similar testimony la on file from Messrs, J. B. Bohannou, VV^. H. 
Ivey, and A. WiUo.i, men of the highest standu.g in their neighbor- 
hood, who are patrons of the consolidated (Mixon) school, and who 
strongly endorse both the consolidation and transportation plans. 

Mixon Schoul is eleven miles from Covington, the county site, 
and eight miles from the nearest railroad statioa or town. 

Another example of consolidation, but without transportation, 
ma/ be found in Downs district, Newton county, teii miles from Oov- 
ington. There two weak schools, Bethany and Prospect, were con- 
sohdated at a central location. The patrons with some help lr:>m the 
Board ot Educaticn, have built a commodious school house, witn four 
r3oms, 36 feet by 20 feet, 24 leet by 24 feet, 12 fnet by 20 teet, and 12 
feet by 20 feet, respectively, with uvo cloak rooms and two verandas!" 
Kvery one in that neighb'.rhood took an interest in the school, and a 
large enrollment came promptly. In 1906 the enrollment at this 
school was 142, with an average attendance for 120 days of 62 G per 
cent, of enrollment. The patrons, by voluntary subscription, added 
thirty days to the school term. There were three first grade teachers 
here all the while. The cost of the school was five and nine-tenths 
cents per pupil per day. The exhibitions given by this «chool. as those 
given by Mixon School, would have done credit to any city school. 

As to the work done by this school— Livingston High School by 
name~we will h.^ar the testimony of J. C. Gibson, M. D., a man re- 
spected and honored throughout West Newton, a trustee and patron 
ot the school, who lives near it and is familiar with its work: 

"i will say thai our school is far ahead of any we ever had before H^^thany 
and Prospect Schools were consolidated. I think at least 75 per cent better 
The attendance is a great deal better, and the progress made by the pupils is 
far ahead ot anything we ever had before. I think there is no doubt that the 
consohdanon of two or more schools, where it can be dotie. is rhe thing to do " 
Mr. E. 0. Hull, a prominent farmer, lives near a one-teacher 



-17- 

school, but sends his children, at his own expense, some distance to 
the Livingston School, because he recognizes a good thing when he 
sees it. He writes under date of September 80, 1907 : 

"I will say I think the present school at Iiivinji;ston is at least 100 per cent, 
better than the little one-horse schools we did have. I am glad I have the 
privilege of sending my children to a graded school. The idea of hauling chil* 
dren to school, I think, is the thing to do where the distance is too far to walk; 
provided, you pay a salary to authorize a man to drive the wagon. I don't 
think it can be managed by the school children." 

A form of coiisolidation, without transportation, >vhich might un- 
der certain conditions prove successful, but which has never been 
tried, so far as the knowledge of the writer goes, is to locate the seven- 
grade schools of the county not less than six miles apart. Each of 
th«se schools to have a principal, with one, two '>r three assistants, 
according to averagf^ attendance. This would give an average walk- 
ing distance of one and a half miles for the pupils, if the country pop- 
ulation was evenly distributed — some, of course, having to walk three 
miles. In this arrangement the distance to be walked by the little folks 
of tUe chart, first, second and third (reader) grades might in vnrv 
many cases prove so great as to practically excludn them {vom the 
schools until they become lar^e enough to walk the necessary dislancn, 
thus causing them to lose two or three years from their school life". 
To meet this difficulty, a one-teacher school, in which no pupil is al- 
lowed under any circumstances higher than third grade, might l>e lo- 
ca>ed half way between each of the seven-grade schools. This would 
reduce the average distance for the^^e little folk to walk to threH-qiiarters 
of a mile; none of them having to walk more than a mile and a half. 
Each of these schools could be considered as section B of the primary 
department of .some desiguated s^ven-grade school, and bi? under the 
supervision and care of the principal of that- school. 

The transportation of scholars m the United Stat s has tukon va- 
rious forms. In some cases an allowance was made to the head of the 
fa.iiily, say five cents per day per pupil, and he was u, provide trans- 
portation. Under these conditions many of the child rnii have devel- 
oped wonderful qualities as pedestrians. In some cases, wh^^re horses 
weie plentiful, stables were built on the school grounds lo shelter the 



18-- 



^ 



animals ridden or driven by the school cbildreu. In some communi- 
ties the electric cars have been used, the school authorities furnishing 
tickets to the children through the teachers. In some cases convey- 
ance was furnisked only in winter or stormy weather — in some cases 
only over route to school, the pupils walking home after dismission, 
unless weather conditions made traveling bad. In some cases the en- 
tire transportation outfit has been owned by the school authorities. 
Sometimes a farm has been rented near the school upon which the 
horses have Leen worked during school hours by the drivers of tho 
conveyances. 

In one case, in Newton county, Georgia, the driver owned his team 
ai.d lived near the school house on his farm. He arranged to spend 
the night, with his team, at the end of his route so us to save the ad- 
ditional trip morning and afternoon, and thus rest his team as much 
as possible. At 8:30 o'clock each morning he had collec*^ed his chil- 
dren, deposited them safely at the school door, and was at work in hia 
fields. His farm work engaged his attention till 4 p. m., when he was 
ready with the t<*am he had been plowing to carry the children back 
on the return trip. 

Where transportatior. at public expense has followed the consol- 
idation of schools, it has generally been one of three forms: 

(1) To have all the pupils ot the abandoned school to assemble 
at the old site and be transp->rted in a body to the consolidated school. 
In the afternoon they would be returned to the same place, and from 
there they would walk to their respective homes. 

(2) To have the school convevance pass down the prescribed 
route and have those pupils living ott the road to walk from their resi- 
dences out to the main road and board the conveyance there; this pro- 
cess btting reversed in the afternoon. 

(3) To convey every pupil from his door to the school house 
door in the morning and back again in the afternoon. 

Since upon the efficiency of the driver, more than upon anything 
else, hinges the success •>( transportation of scholars, we may formu- 
late some statements in regard to him deduced frv?m the collected ex- 
perience of those who have tried this plan. 



—19— 

(1) In awarding the routes, explicit contracts need to be made 
with the drivers as to details of route, the furnishing of lap-robes in 
cold weather, as well as amounts to be paid for service itself, team, 
rolling stock, etc., and time of payment of same. 

(2) The contract should not be let necessarily to the lowest bid- 
der. The element of responsibility should far outweigh the mere cost. 

(8) No young person, and no irresponsible person, should be al- 
lowed to drive a wagon. 

(4) The driver should be clothed by the School Board with au- 
thority, and he should be a man of sufficient personality to enforce his 
authority without undue friction. 

(5) Pupils should be under his immediate control, and their be- 
havior on the wagon be counted as part of their school duportment. 

(6) The principal of* the school should exercise the same super- 
vision over the wagons and the driver that he does over hie assistant 
teachers and their work — possibly more. 

In educational problems, as in most problems which come before 
us for solution, the first question asked bv the average man is — D<>es 
it pay? The answer concerning consolidation and transportation is by 
asking, in true Yankee fas.iion, another question — Are we to make up 
our balai.ce sheet on the dollar and cent basis entirely, or are we to 
take into consideration the eflBciency of the school? 

Since an assistant teacher can be secured at a smaller salary than 
a principal, a three-teacher school can be handled on a smaller salary 
list than three single toacher schools, or, which is better, the money 
can beused in paying better salaries and securing a better grade of 
teachers. 

Where transportation is practiced at the consolidated school the 
total cost is, of course, increased, but hardly as much as at first it 
might seem. 

Where three schools are consolidated the relative cost would prob- 
ably be: 

Principal at consolidated school $40 00 per month. 

Assistant at consolidated schoo! 80 00 



—so- 
Cost of two wagons at $27.50 per month 55 00 

Total cost of consolidated school $125 00 por month. 

Principals at three single schools at $40 120 00 

$ 5 00 per month. 
Here the difference in money is only five dollars per month in fa- 
vor of the three separate schools. 

When four schools ar2 consolidated the relative cost, before and 
after consolidation, would probably be: 

Principal at consolidated school $45 00 per month. 

Two assistants at $80 00 per month GO 00 

Cost of three wagons at $27.50 82 50 

Total cost of consolidated school $187 50 per month. 

Principals at lour separate schools at $40 160 00 

$ 27 50 
Here the difference in money is only twenty-seven and a half dol- 
lars per month in favor of the four separate schools. If, however, this 
consolidated school could be run with two wagons it would reduce the 
cost per month to the same fi^urps as that of the four separate scdooIs. 
The total expenditure for a consolidated school, where the pupils are 
hauled, will probably be more than that for the scattered spelling 
shops, which are falsely called schools; but when the figures are sum- 
med up, it is found that owing to the increased average attendance the 
cost per pupil per day is about the sume, possibly a little lesj*, under 
the most unfavorable circumstances, and very much less where con- 
ditions are normal. 

There are, however, some elements which enter into the estimate 
which are hard to put a value on, measured in terms of a dollar. 

(1) The increased enrollment and the very much higher percen 
tage of attendance, even on the increased enrollment. It is the uni- 
versal testimony that tardiness is very largely decreased, and truancy 
practically eliminated; which element ot irregularity is one of the 
most serious handicaps under which our rural 8ch(K)l8 labor. 



—21— 

(2) The bettered health of the pupils by being largely relieved 
of wet feet and the exposure to rain, snow and mud. Some careful 
parents have estimated that the saving in shoe leather and doctors' 
bills alone are sufl5cient to pay all cost cf transportation. 

(3) The relief of mmd which comes to the parents who know 
that the little tolk are not overtaxing their strength by reason of the 
hardships of the way, and more especially when they realize that the 
joy and comfort of the home, their older daughter, just blooming in- 
to lovely maidenhood, is not exposed to the lurking dangbr of the un- 
frequented load. 

The advantages of the consolidated school over thf» single school 
are m^ny, even where transportation is not practical. 
It largely secures : 

(1) The permanency of teachers. Every observant patron is aware 
that the pupil suffers more or less whenever there is a change of ad- 
ministration in the school. 

(2) Better school houses — bettnr heated, lighted an(i ventilated, 
better desks, more blackboards, etc. 

(3) Increased interest on part of pupil and patron. 
Enthusiasm and rivalry come with numbers; how muoh the huge 

attendance at our country churches is due to the desire to be In a 
crowd and to see folks, it might not bo flattering to the preacher to 
determine with accuracy. Not only wcmld the recitations be improv- 
ed, but the games would be bettered and the social life elevated. 

(4) Better supervision on the part of the principal and the county 
superintendent. 

(5) More rapid advancement and more thorough work on the 
part of the pupil. Having better teachers, being better graded, with 
more time for recitation work, and with minds whetted by contact 
with other bright personalities, there is obliged to be greater growth 
and development. 

(6) A lengthened school term. In many cases the increased et- 
ficiency of the school has caused the patrons to lengthen the term by 
voluntary contributions. 

(7) An enlarged course of study. High school work is made 



22 

possible III the single teacher school here were possibly frotii three 
to teu pupils who migjht do advanced work. If the already overcrowd- 
ed teacher undertook to do this, the work would necessarily be of a 
superfioiul nature, and, at the same time, it would be unfair to the 
pupils iii the common school grades, to whom all his time rit^htly be- 
longed. 

In a consolidated g:raded school, with three or four teachers, there 
would be from five to thirty pupils who could be handled in advanced 
work by one of the teachers without much detriment to the lower 
classes, thus furnishing the almost ideal school. What better condi- 
tions could be found ior high school work than in the quiet and health- 
fulnesS of the country, surrounded by the glories of nature and away 
from the distracting influences" and temptations of the town. 

Here the child is free to grow and develop naturally and normally 
in body, mind, and spirit. 

The children of Georgia will nevei be young but once. Should 
opportunities not be offered now they will never come. 

It behooves all concerned that every resource be husbanded and 
every opportunity have Us full value. 

The consolidation of several schools, of small attendance, into one 
with sufficient numbers to warrant the employment of at least three 
teachers means schools of vitality and force, provided teachers and not 
mere wielders of the rod and hearers of lessons, can be secured. it 
means that the work which now requires two years may be accom- 
plished by the pupil in one and that too with satisfaction and profit. 
It means a greater mental growth and individual development. It 
means more education, even should there be less "going to school." 

Enlarging the illustration of another, I would say: 

With many people a school is a school, just as a cow is a cow. One 
animal may live a half-starved life on the short grass of the hillside, 
only affording a scant measure of bluish liquid, by courtesy called 
milk, which is neither agreeable to the eye nor pleasant to the taste, 
rewarding neither the muscle of the churner nor the appetite of the 
c<^«n8umer; the other animal, grazing on fertile meadowland, rewards 
its keeper with abundant cream and golden buUer, tempting to the 



eye, delicious to the palate, and strengthening to him who eats. 
^ Let UH qait dwarfing the iDtellects of our children by sending 
them to these little spelling shops. L^t us understand, once for all, 
that everything that is called a school is not a school. We should not 
tolerate for a day those schools, falsely so-called, where it requires 
three years to do one year's work. It is a crime against childhood 
and a premium on igiiorance. 

Let our watchword be, fewer schools if need be, but better schools 
at all costs. 

With sjood roads to insure easy access to the town and n«ighbor- 
hood, with telephones and rural mails to give easy communication be- 
tween those having relations of friendship or business; and with 
churches and good schools to give opportunities for spiritual and in- 
tellectual growth, the country life is freed from its most objectionable 
featurps and the enticing town life deprived of Its most exclusive 
jblessings. 

What need is there to move to town when the thing sought can be 
transferred to the farm? Here the boys and girls can be reared to be 
independent, to think for themselves, to be honest and helpful, to 
know that idleness and loafing is dishonorable, whether practiced 
around the village store or in the mother's sitting room. 

With her country homes filled with independent, thoughtful, up- 
right, contented people, the old State of Georgia will blossom like the 
rose and become in very truth the "Garden of the Lord." 



GOOD KOADS. 



BY PBOF. H. H. STOj^E, M.A. 

HMOJ^y COLLEGE, OXFORD, GA. 



From the Mctiiodut Review, Nashville. 
July- August, 1896. 



GOOD ROADS. 

BY PKOFESSOR H. H. STONE, M.A., 

EMORY COLLEGE, OXFORD, GA. 

Whether or not it be true of tlie American people as a whole, 
it can be said of such portion of them as my observation covers, 
that questions concerning the nation or state at large readily 
engage their attention, while the seemingly small county mat- 
ters, which affect the individual much, are too generally over- 
looked. The nomination and election of a president, events 
which can at best have but small effect upon the individual, 
absorb the attention of our citizens a full twelvemonth before 
his inauguration; while the nomination of a county board of 
commissioners of roads and revenues, v, hich shall come in con- 
tact wdth every citizen directly and indirectly, and whose ac- 
tions v/ill affect the value of every piece of property in the 
county and the taxes thereon, is allowed to go by default. It 
is comparatively easy for a stranger — a salaried agent, or some 
one attemptiug to maho a fortune by the furthering of some 
scheme — to come among us and begin to talk railroad, and im- 
mediately the whole community is agog. Men see visions and 
dream dreams; town councils vote concessions; citizens contrib- 
ute land and donate rights of way; dirt is broken amid great 
enthusiasm, and the town is afflicted with that American dis- 
ease — a boom. When the hazy atmosphere has cleared away 
and men regain reason, they see that thej^ may have indeed 
built a railroad, but not for themselves. It is owned by some 
syndicate, mayhap made rich by their contributions of land and 
money, and for whose every haul they must pay their hard- 
earned dimes. How much better it would be for us to expend 
our enthusiasm and surplus cash on that which will yield a 
o-reat present and constantly increasing benefit, and that too 
with comparatively nothing beyond the original outlay. 

The conversion of the rights of way of mud and dust and 
discomfort (by courtesy called roads), periodically worked into 
shape for more mud and discomfort, into smooth, hard high- 
ways, passable at every season with full loads, with comfort 
(412) 



GOOD ROADS, 



to man and Immanity to beast, is a subject which concerns 
alike the equipage of the millionaire, the team of the farmer, 
the cart of the laborer, and the feet of the wayfaring man. 

Very few of the citizens of the state of Georgia know what 
good roads are; for most of them have never seen one. They 
have seen roadways laid off v/ithout regai-d to the shortening 
of distances between destinations or the securing of the best 
grades or fewest and least expensive bridges; but because they 
must be made to pass through Mr. Infiuential's lands, regard- 
less of loss of time to hundreds of others — who, if no better, 
are at least as good as he — or the tax of energy and strength 
and the shortening of days by overwork of every dumb brute 
whose load should be drawn toward that part of the county. 
They have seen these same roadways in winter dissolved into a 
sea of mud and slush, in whose depths many a poor inoffensive 
beast has lost his life because his master was neither intelligent 
nor considerate enough to prolong it; many a load abandoned, 
not through sympathy for horseflesh, but because horseflesh 
could not be made to overcome that which is allowed by the 
stupidity of its owners. They have seen them when for many 
days they were impassable to half-loaded wagons, and when 
lighter vehicles made passage by sheer force of persistence. 
Again, they have seen these same roadways hardened by frost 
in winter or baked by the sun in summer, retaining every rut 
or hole cut by heavy wheels, until continued travel even in the 
most approved vehicles was little less than agony. Again, they 
have seen in summer these same roadways reduced to powder by 
the grinding wheels, the whole atmosphere beclouded with the 
dust of passing vehicles, the foliage for many rods on either side 
the trackway so covered with dust as to have lost appearance 
of life, travelers and horses breathing with great discomfort 
the dust v»4iich they themselves have made, and from which — no 
matter what their pace — there can be no escape. Or they have 
seen patient, overloaded beasts panting through long, weary 
miles of sand half-hub deep, while their very life seemed to go 
out with their sweat and steam under the merciless urging of 
the teamster and the burning rays of the sun. How many 
times our citizens have been cut off from market, from church- 
es and schools, or perhaps home itself, for many weary days at 
ft time, by the overflow of some intervening stream, insignifi- 



414 THE METHODIST BE VIE IV. 

cant enough at most times, but converted by rains into a vast 
flood, not to be crossed because of the absence of a proper grade 
to the road and lack of a suitable bridge. 

In or are the scenes described above located in Georgia alone. 
I dare say that with slight modifications they are found in most 
of our states. By way of contrast, let us look at the condition 
of the roads in Europe, as shown by the following extracts, 
taken from recent consular reports made to the Department of 
State on streets and highways in foreign countries: 

The public roads of Belgium enter into successful competition with the 
lailroads, so much so that a man who has his team does not by any means 
consider himself forced to send his products by rail. These roads are flanked 
on either side by two, and sometimes four, rows of shade trees, which add 
much beauty to the country through which they run, and from a distance 
are particularly picturesque where several roads intersect. One can mark 
the roads in their windings sometimes as fiir as the eye can reach, by these 
fresh green shade trees, which, with the various teams of horse and dog 
laden with the products of farms, mines, and shop, conspire to make a very 
pretty scene. Sometimes the wagon itself looks like a sufficient cliarge for 
two horses, while wagon, load, and all are drawn by one with the greatest 
ease. Place the same load on almost any of our roads in the United States, 
and at least two more, if not three more, horses would be required to pull it 
the same distance. * 

Or this : 

The roads of France are remarkable for their durability, evenness, and 
cleanliness. They are swept and watered every day and kept in scrupulous 
order. No rugged eminences or depressions jar the nerves of the traveler 
riding over them. Neither dirt, decay, nor rubbish is about, to suggest neg- 
lect or ill care. They are immense garden paths, amid a marvelous land- 
scape of verdure and cultivation.f 

In the high, mountainous regions of the Isere I have seen, after a violent 
summer rain of thirty-six hours' duration, fifty yards of national road, in- 
cluding a small bridge, washed away by a fearful torrent rushing down 
from a cloud-capped field of ice with an almost vertical fall of two thou- 
sand feet. In three hours, and in the midst of a severe storm, I have seen 
that same road repaired temporarily and made passable by the road men in 
this remote and little frequented region. It is this never-failing watchful- 
ness and promptness in repairing roads, coupled with thorough and honest 
construction, which gives France a system of roads which is at once a 
source of national strength and of national pride. . . . The wagon roads 
of France, always passable and reaching all centers of population, no mat- 
ter how small, are the chief competitors of the railways, as means of com- 

* From Report of Consul Tannei', oJ Leige, p. 31. f From Report of Consul Knowles 
»f Bordeaux, p. 63. 



GGGD ROADS. 415 



rauiiication by water are not numei'ous. The road system of France has 
been of far greater value to the country as a means of raising the value of 
hiuvl^, and putting the small peasant proprietors in easy communication with 
their markets, than have the railways. It is the opinion of well-informed 
Frenchmen, who have made a practical study of economic problems, that 
the superb roads of France have been one of the most steady and potent 
contributions to the material development and marvelous financial elastic- 
ity of the country. The far-reaching and splendidly maintained road sys- 
tem has distinctly favored the success of the small landed proprietors, and 
in their prosperity, and the ensuing distribution of wealth, lies the key to 
the secret of the vvonderful financial vitality and solid prosperity of the 
French nation.* 

And this : 

The system of tree culture along the roads of Saxony is the admiration 
of every American who observes it. The beauty and picturesque appear- 
ance of long avenues of finely selected and well-kept trees, stretching away 
for miles in various directions, gladdens the heart of every admirer of nat- 
ural beauty. It is, as has been stated, a consideration of less importance 
than the building of the roads, but the following figures will show the value 
of a well-governed and faithfully managed system of tree culture on the 
public highways. In the year 1890 the noteworthy sum of 150,622.55 marks 
was obtained from the fruit giown along the state roads only. The income 
from trees along country roads is greatcr.f 

I£ I wore asked tlie cause of our bad roads, I should answer, 
Our oivn indifference to the subject. Many blame our road laws; 
but these laws, like those on many other subjects, are better 
than we think, because we have never seen them carried out. 
It is true that there is very little system in the work done. 
Most sux)erintendents of roads never think of their duties until 
a short w^hile before the assembling of the circuit court, when 
they hasten to fill the holes which are in the roads just then 
with whatever comes to hand — pluming themselves if they es- 
cape the censure of the grand jury. In a few weeks the roads 
are in as bad condition as formerly, and generally so remain 
until another court session draws nigh. Very rarely is there 
an attempt at grading or rocking any part of the road, or to- 
w^ard the doing of anything which may have any permanent 
value. Eepairs are so long neglected that they become well- 
nigh impossible. Then, too, most of our heavy vehicles, and 
especially those used for heavy hauling, are more suited to be 
road destroyers than road helpers. How seldom do we see 



*From Report of Commercial Agent Lo-mis, of St. Etenne, p. 52. f From 
Report of Consul Merritt, Chemnitz, p. 132. 



416 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

freight and farm wagons with springs and broad tires ; and yet 
tliey should have both — the one, to break the force of the jolt 
as the vehicle trundles along; the other, to roll out the ridges 
and the ruts. In some of the European countries the width of 
tire is proportioned by law to the weight of the load, and a 
penalty is attached for disregarding it. The width varies from 
two to ten inches; and where the vehicle has four wheels, in no 
case do the hind wheels follow in the track of the front ones* 
Thus, where a loaded vehicle with a six-inch tire passes, it rolls 
two feet of the road, and so becomes a road maker instead of a 
rut maker. 

We hear so frequently the cry raised that the people are 
leaving the country and moving to the towns; we hear, too, so 
much about the discontent and unrest of the farmers that we 
are led to inquire as to the cause for this state of affairs. One 
answers: "There is no good school in my neighborhood, and 
my duty toward my children requires that I should give them 
the advantages found only in the towns." Another ansvv'ers: 
" There are no church privileges in the country to comjjare to 
those in the town." Another does not think it justice to his 
family to have them cut off from the social advantages of the 
town. So we have answers as many as there are persons to 
reply. 

Some would try to mitigate these evils by the application of 
one nostrum, while others are equally as sure that they have 
found the remedy. One suggests the bettering of the public 
school system; another, the establishment of more school- 
houses and churches; another, the revision of the tariff; an- 
other, the free coinage of silver. While I am not so much of a 
quack as to claim my prescription to be a panacea for every ill, 
yet I bespeak for it a careful consideration before its rejection. 

Man is essentially a social being, and longs for compan- 
ionship. Why is it that the boy raised on the farm, ere the 
down is on his face, begins to turn wistful eyes tov/ard the 
town? It is hardly because he expects to find easier work, 
because, though the simplest of his class, he knows that he 
must work equally as hard for a living in town as on the farm. 
Why is it that in our cities great multitudes are crowded into 
dens of dirt and filth, cut off from God's sunshine by blackened 
i^alls and a smoke-begrimed atmosphere — the very air they 



GOOD ROADS, 417 



breathe, which should bs a synonym of purity and health, la- 
den with noxious vapors and poisonous stench, Yv'hen thousands 
of acres of farm land are untilled, and the pure air and warm 
sunshine inyite tkem and their children to health? Man likes 
the companionshix3 of his fellows, and will have it at vv^hatever 
cost. On the farm there are certain seasons when little outdoor 
work can be done, and the farmer and his family are shut in- 
doors. The roads at these times are in such shape that a visit 
to a neighbor, though but a mile or two away, is a thing to be 
taken in hand advisedly and with due deliberation and caution. 
Neighborhood clubs or gatherings can exist only in dreams or 
the wild imaginings of the young, when you are as effectually 
cut off from the rest of the world by this sea of mud as if you 
were on some remote island. Unfortunately, on most of our 
farms the libraries are in a *' state of innocuous desuetude." 
What wonder, then, that the children on the farm — shut up 
within themselves, with nothing to interest their growing minds 
but such incidents and things as are inclosed by the farm fence, 
with not enough training to begin a course of self-instruction, 
nor enough confidence in the superior knowledge of their par- 
ents to go to them for information, yet having an innate feeling 
that there is something better for them than mere drudgery, 
something higher than mere animal existence — should almost 
insensibly cast their eyes longingly townward, where everything 
seems to their crude imaginations active and astir and interest- 
ing and inviting? 

Suppose we shift the scene, and view the same actors with 
different surroundings: the farmer, his family, and his farm 
are the same, but what different words do they speak. Good 
roads have been built through the county, and distance is prac- 
tically eliminated from the social and political problem. Chil- 
dren can now board at home and attend school in town; but there 
is now no need for that, since there are good schools at their very 
dcor. But how come they there now, when before it was al- 
most an impossibility? Now the children for miles around can 
attend at all seasons without fear of being mired up in the mud, 
or of being cut off from home by some sudden rain and the con- 
sequent rise in the creek. Now, too, schools can be held at all 
seasons of the year, just as in town, because the good roads 
make them as accessible to the country children as those in 
27 



418 THE METHODIST RE VIE W, 

town are to the cliilclren there. Clubs and associations — 
whether of a social, literary, agricultural, or religious nature — 
are now a jDossibility, and soon become a necessity. Meetings 
which before were confined to the day can now occur at night, 
thus gaining time. Popular lectures by persons of greater op- 
portunities and broader culture are now a possibility which a 
three or five mile drive at night need not prevent. With this 
comes a greater desire for information, and a shelf is set apart 
to catch the periodicals and books which begin to drift in, un- 
til as years go by another and then another shelf is dedicated 
to like uses. Frequent visits to town, made possible by good 
roads, have served in some sort to dispel the illusion which 
overhung town life, and the children are not so dissatisfied 
with the farm as formerly. They begin to see and realize 
from hearing and reading and studying, and a consequent 
quickening of observation, that it is not all of life merely 
to live — "that life is real, life is earnest." They begin to see 
and to know that the pure air, the singing of the birds at early 
dawn, the lowing of the herds at eventide, the silking of the 
corn, the whitening of the cotton, and the ripening of the grain, 
under the splendor and glory of God's free sunshine, are more 
conducive to the development of that which is higher and no- 
bler in them than the rumble of innumerable wheels on the 
stony street, the clangor of bells or shriek of wdiistles, the rush 
and bustle and shove of the sidewalk, or the ring of coin in the 
countinghouse. 

There are more comforts to be observed about the home than 
formerly, since spare change has been increased by the numer- 
ous sales of articles which are now in this era of roads easily 
sent to town, but which under the old regime of mud were prac- 
tically wasted. Nor must the increased religious advantages 
be overlooked in enumerating the benefits arising from the 
elimination of distance by the bettering of the roads. Congre- 
gations need no longer be limited to the one or two Sabbaths 
per month when their pastor can ofiiciate at their place of wor- 
ship, but can, if they desire, follow him as he makes his cir- 
cuit, or can with ease attend other churches, thus sitting con- 
stantly under the sound of the gospel. Sunday schools need 
no longer go into winter quarters, and all may now attend and 
take part in the study of the word despite the weather. 



GOOD EOADS. 419 



But in this practical age we are apt to follow the multitude in 
asking the question, Does it pay? According to the Department 
of Agriculture of the United States Government, there were on 
the ?arms in the United States in January, 1895, 18,226,426 hors- 
es and mules, having a value of $687,658,414; but that we may 
better understand the matter, suppose w^e limit our figures to 
one state. In January, 1895, there were on the farms in Geor- 
gia 268,248 horses and mules, having a value of $15,929,298. 
Estimating the feeding of a horse at twenty-five cents per day, 
we see that it costs the farmers of Georgia $67,062 per day, 
and $402,372 per week of six days, to allow their horses to 
stand idle in their stalls, slowly but surely eating their heads 
off. This is a loss which can be charged directly to bad roads, 
for were our highways passable at all times to loaded wagons, 
there need be no idle days on the farm during the rainy sea- 
son. There need be no delay for the drying of the roads, as 
now, before fertilizers can be hauled out from town, thus tak- 
ing the time which should be given to field work for work 
which should belong to the rainy day. A few dollars invested 
in a waterproof covering would allow the moving of any load 
despite the weather. There are no available data for esti- 
mating the lessening of doctors' bills and tlie untold suffering 
occasioned by protracted and needless exposure upon impassa- 
ble roads, or the savings in the wear and tear of wagons, har- 
ness, and horseflesh itself, not to speak of the great discount 
good roads would place upon the profanity of the teamsters, 
which is now all too common. 

Going out from one of our cities, how steadily does the price 
of farming land on either side the road diminish as we pro- 
ceed. That which for farming purposes alone is worth in 
the suburbs some hundred dollars per acre would, were it 
transported three miles farther out, lose seventy-five per 
cent, of its value — where the roads are bad. A smooth, hard 
highway, measurably eliminating time and space, would save 
some fifty per cent, of this shrinkage in value. That the ordi- 
nary farm horse eats his head off every year will hardly be de- 
nied, costing his owner from seventy-five to one hundred dol- 
lars per year. Good roads would dispense with at least one- 
tenth of the draught horses. If this estimate be a correct one, 
we see by referring to the govermneDt statistics before quoted 



420 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

that 11,592,929.80 now invested by the farmers of Georgia 
alone would be at once liberated, to be by them applied to 
their farms in betterments, not to speak of a like sum saved 
each year in not having the horses to feed. The amount saved, 
too, in lengthening the lives of the animals, by lessening their 
exertion in the performance of their work, is an important item 
to the farmers which cannot easily be estimated in dollars. 
Hardly less difficult to estimate is the amount which would be 
saved to the people, now practically wasted, by lessening the 
frequent bills for repairs sent in by wheelwrights, blacksmiths, 
and harness makers. 

Unless we stop to consider the subject, we would be sur- 
prised at the great difference in the capacity for moving which 
the same team has on different surfaces. As an illustration: 
our local street-car driver tells me that he has taken in as 
many as seventy-five fares on a single trip on the occasion of a 
fire at the other end of the line. Supposing that these fares 
represented the total number on the car, which is doubtful, 
and that the average weight of the passengers, most of whom 
were full-grown men, was one hundred and forty pounds, we 
have a total of ten thousand five hundred pounds. Add to 
this the weight of the car itself, which was say six thousand 
pounds, and we have a load for each mule of eight thousand 
two hundred and fifty pounds, which was moved with much 
less apparent effort over the heaviest grades on the track than 
I have seen a poor mule exert drawing a half-loaded vvagon 
downhill during the muddy season. Nor was this load of six- 
teen thousand five hundred pounds the limit of the power of the 
mules, but rather of the capacity of the car. How far would it 
have been possible for these same mules to have pulled seventy- 
five people in a wagon on one of our ordinary dirt roads — pro- 
vided that they could have been packed into the vehicle? 

I get the following facts and figures from the Hon. J. W. 
Robertson, late member of the Georgia Railroad Commission: 

General Gilrmore by many experiments showed the following to be the 
force of traction in pounds on different kinds of roads in fair condition, 
with dynamometer attached to wagon, wagon and load weighing two thou- 
sand two hundred and forty pounds. Test made on a level: 



Best stone trackway 12 1-16 lbs. 

Block pavement 32 to 33 lbs. 

Gravel on earth 140 to 147 lbs. 



Good plank road 82 to 50 lbs. 

Broken stone 65 lbs. 

Common earth 200 lbs. 



GOOD ROADS, 421 



The following table gives the approximate percentages which can be 
drawn on a level over various (iescriptions of roads as compared with what 
can be drawn by the same power over an iron track : 



Iron track 100 

Good stone trackway 64 

Asphalt 60 

Best block stone 30 

Common block stone 20 



Telford macadam 18 

Common macadam 13 

Cobblestone 10 

Gravel over earth 5 J 



From the above we see that a horse can draw more than three times as 
much on a good, solid Telford macadam road as he could on a gravel road ; 
hence one horse can on the Telford macadam do the work of three horses 
on the gravel road. The manager of Hollywood truck farm, in Virginia, 
states that a pair of horses can draw over the roads of the farm fifty-five 
barrels of produce, whereas they can only draw twelve barrels over the 
roads outside the farm. 

Travelers in European countries tell us that one of the most 
astonishing things to their eyes is the enormous loads dravsm 
with ease by a single horse along the smooth, hard highways, 
and that, too, to a distance of sixty or seventy-five miles. In 
many cases a dog is the motive power with which to draw the 
farm products to market, a distance of ten or twelve miles, two 
grown persons returniDg in the wagon. In these countries 
teams compete successfully with the railroads in hauling freight 
for any distance under a hundred miles. A problem for our 
farmers to solve reads something like the following: "If two 
horses haul the load of four, one wagon of two, one set of har- 
ness of two, one driver serve for two, and if six miles instead 
of three be passed per hour, what per cent, of present expenses 
could be placed in the profit column?" 

But as to the necessity for good roads, hardly anyone will 
offer an objection. How to get them is the question. Eoad 
congresses one after another have been called to consider the 
question. They have, by calling attention to the need for bet- 
ter roads, caused many to become interested in this vital sub- 
ject. This feature of their work is bound to bear fruit, I trust, 
in the near future. Many of their suggestions are worthy of a 
fuller consideration and a practical test. The substance of the 
work of several, of the last Georgia road congresses was to 
pass resolutions to the effect that .the convicts should be 
worked upon our roads. While this plan of working convicts 
on the roads is good, yet it seems too remote, and the benefit 



422 THE METHODIST BE VIEW, 



to accrue seems too far removed, nor is uniformity in improve- 
ment secured. I, too, would urge the use of the convicts on 
the roads; but do not let that be the only hope of relief from 
our present troubles. 

The plan I would present for the permanent improvement of 
the roads is as follows: Let the state issue a sufficient number 
of bonds with the proceeds of which to construct a first-class 
road through each county, or rather two such roads — one ex- 
tending in an east and west direction, the other in a north and 
south direction; the roads of one county to connect with the 
similar roads of the adjoining couuties, so as to form a con- 
tinuous system of first-class roads, extending over the entire 
state. In building these roads, let there be established a road 
commission of five members, with headquarters in the capital 
of the state; the state to be divided by them into road districts 
not less than fifteen in number, and more in their discretion — 
each district to be in charge of a capable engineer, who in turn 
shall be under an engineer in chief. It would be the duty of 
the district engineer to locaf-e, subject to the approval of the 
engineer iu chief, the roads to be built in his district, locating 
them not necessarily on the old thoroughfares, but taking into 
consideration the most direct and shortest routes, the grades, 
bridges, cost and accessibility of material, and other advan- 
tages which we may group under the head of general availa- 
bility. Should there be dissatisfaction on the part of the citi- 
izens, or any considerable part of them, as to the location of 
the road, an appeal could be made to the engineer in chief, and 
from his decision to the road commission — the decision of that 
body to be final. It should further be the duty of the district 
engineer thoroughly to inspect, and accept or reject, all mate- 
rial and contract work. 

All roads built by the road commission should be first care- 
fully surveyed and located by competent engineers, the cost 
fully estimated, and the details of construction perfected be- 
fore work is begun. The grade should nowhere be greater 
than one in tvv^enty, the roadway to be in no case narrower 
than thirty feet, exclusive of drains or ditches, and to be 
metaled with crushed stone for a width of not less than sixteen 
feet and a depth of not less than twelve inches; sewer pipes to 
!)e used to throw the road across all drains and small streams, 



GOOD EOADS. 423 



stone culverts to be built for all streams of the second class, 
while all bridges across streams of the first class, where possi- 
ble, should be of steel, or, if built of wood, should be support- 
ed on granite piers; the surface of the roadway in all cases 
to be above high-water mark. Let the roads constructed on the 
above plan be the roads of the first class — built, and if need be 
kept in repair, by the state. Let all other roads in each county 
be kept in repair by the convicts of that county, supplemented 
by the income derived from road taxes and such special ad va- 
lorem taxes as may be levied in that county for road purposes. 
All these roads, as those of the first class, should be first care- 
fully surveyed and located without reference so much to exist- 
ing roads as to best grades, the greatest convenience to the 
greatest number of citizens, and with regard to the cheapest 
construction of roadbed and bridges. 

But the question may arise. Why should the state take the 
problem of road-building in hand; why not leave it for each 
county to settle for itself? I would answer that this plan pos- 
sesses the immense advantage of giving immediate and uni- 
form relief, -not leaving the matter to the discretion and slow 
action of the officers in charge of affairs in the various coun- 
ties, who, with varying and in many cases insufficient ideas of 
road improvement, might delay too long the needed improve- 
ment; nor would there be any guarantee either that the roads 
of adjacent counties would be joined to each other so as to 
form a continuous system extending over the whole state, or of 
a standard degree of excellence of construction. 

The increased receipts in the state's income, arising from in- 
creased values in tax returns, traceable directly to better roads, 
would soon pay off the bonds issued for road construction, be- 
sides keeping them in thorough repair. 

Should the state once build a first-class road through a 
county, there would be little doubt as to the county's building 
the remainder. Such an object lesson could not be lost upon 
even the most stupid one who claims the right of citizenship, 
and popular opinion would clamor for similar roads to be built 
throughout the whole county. 



COUNTRY LIFE AND 



TEAVELINa LIBRARIES 



BY PEOF. H. H. STONE, M.A., 

LIBRARIAN EMORY COLLEGE, OXFORD, GA. 
PRESIDENT BOARD OF EDUCATION NEWTON COUNTY, GA, 



From the Methodist Review, Nashville, 
July-August, 1901. 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES. 

BY HAEKY H. STONE, M.A., 

PROFESSOR OP APPLIED MATHEMATICS, EMORY COLLEGE, OXFORD, GEORGIA. 

From time to time the attention of the thoughtful and patriotic 
has been called to the fact that the growth of our cities is all too 
rapid, while the slow increase of the population in the rural dis- 
tricts drags its weary length along, sometimes having a value 
approaching perilously near the vanishing point. At the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century, ninety-six per cent, of the 
po]pulation of these United States lived in the country; at the 
end of the century, less than seventy per cent. 

Of the total population of Georgia, the i^eople living in 
the rural districts, according to estimates made for me by the 
Department of Labor (United States Government), were in 
1860, 9412 per cent.; in 1870, 93.56 per cent.; in 1880, 92.68 per 
cent.; in 1890, 89.16 per cent.; and in 1900, 89 per cent. These 
figures, however, fail to present the subject in all its serious- 
ness, since in government estimates the population of towns 
when less than eight thousand is classed as rural population. 
Should the population of tov\'ns be so classed only when one 
thousand or less, the percentage of urban over rural population 
would be materially increased. 

In some cases entire families emigrate to the city. In others, 
where the old folks by reason of long association remain on the 
farm, the boys, one by one as they come of age, turn their backs 
on the life of their youth and in town seek other means of live- 
lihood. 

In our cities manj^ of the foremost citizens are country reared, 
and have brought with them to their new homes and business 
that sturdy manhood and robustness of character incident to 
normal country rearing, and which is so frequently lost to the 
stock after city associations of one or two generations. These 
make great successes as city business men. Had they stayed 
by the farm, they might possibly have done as well financially, 
and at the sam.e time have demonstrated to the world that true 
farming is not a matter of mere muscle, but is a highly intel- 
(576) 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES, 571 

lectual pursuit and requires business and mental ability of a 
high order. 

The growth of our city population is made up largely from 
the best products of the farms, while our rural population is 
eceiving but few additions from the outside. While there 
should be a constant interchange betv/een town and country to 
secure the best health of the body politic, yet where much 
strength is given by the country and but little received from 
the city, either the doctor must interpose his services or else 
there may be a call for the undertaker. 

The tenant class, which is rapidly forming our rural popula- 
tion, is composed at present of both wdiite and coloi'ed people. 
Many of the better class of Vv^hite tenants are moving to factory 
villages to secure wdiat seems to be more remunerative emplo}^- 
ment. They are dazzled by the handling of a greater amount 
of cash, and are forgetful, or else fail to see the fact that one 
hundred dollars in the hands of a factory operative with every- 
thing to purchase cannot go so far in supplying the needs as 
one-half that amount in the hands of a farmer whose daily 
needs are mostly supplied by farm products. 'Nov do they 
seem to appreciate that still more import^^nt fact that the 
growth of their higher nature w^hich cannot be measured in 
terms of currency is more or less stunted by factory walls. The 
small amounts received each week for the labor of their boys 
and girls is largely blood money, for which is sacrificed the in- 
tellectual development of those whom they hold dearest. The 
percentage of the children in factory communities attending 
school is very much smaller than that in agricultural dis- 
tricts. 

Many of the white tenants, while nominally farmers, have but 
little interest in their business. They try to get everything 
possible out of the rented farm in one or two years' time, ex- 
pectiDg then to try another community, since by that time their 
credit, as v/ell as the producing quality of the land which they 
are subjecting to abuse, will have been largely exhausted. Lit- 
tle need be said concerning the negro tcHants, as they are pro- 
verbially economical as to labor and careless as to methods of 
cultivation. 

If we expect the State to advance in we'^dih and influence, her 
agricultural interests, the very groundwork and foundation of 



578 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

all prosperity, must not be intrusted to the hands of the shift- 
less and the ignorant. 



'&■■ 



111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey. 
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 

If, at the present, there is any failure in the outcome of the 
farm, it is because of mistakes as to methods and means em- 
ployed, and not in the capabilities of old Mother Nature, who 
stands ready to enrich all who understand her secrets, but who 
turns a deaf ear to the careless and indifferent. 

It behooves the patriotic to inquire into the causes of this in- 
creasing desertion of the farm for town life by so many of the 
better class, and, having found the causes, to use their best ef- 
forts to stop the movement and turn the current in the other 
direction. 

Man is a social as well as an intellectual being. It is to be 
doubted if any greater punishment has ever been devised by the 
ingenuity of man than solitary confinement. If now to the lack 
of companionship there be added a dearth of intellectual food, 
then of all beings is that man most miserable. 

In the country under present conditions social intercourse is 
at a discount at all times, by reason of distance, which distance 
is more than doubled in bad weather by the highways of mud 
and ruts which are through courtesy to the law called public 
roads. But should there be near neighbors, yet there might 
be lack of neighborliness; or far worse, that social intercourse 
which retards rather than promotes intellectual growth. The 
youth finds a scarcity of that which appeals to the higher 
side of nature — that contact of mind with mind which comes in 
social intercourse and business relations — and the growing mind 
must seek elsewhere for food upon which it may find nourish- 
ment. 

The country home, as we frequently find it, has but few at- 
tractions for the children. Work, work, work is continually 
dinned in their ears; nor are any pains expended to arouse an 
intelligent interest in their work, until after a time work be- 
comes mere drudgery. The trip to town some Saturday after- 
noon is looked forward to with keen interest both as a rest 
from toil and as in some sense a time of intellectual quickening. 
New sights and scenes spring to the mind, and the town soon be- 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES, 579 



comes associated in the country-reared child's mind with oppor- 
tunity and progress. The young mind growing with the body 
craves something upon which to feed. The range of observa- 
tion and information on the farm is limited when books are 
not at hand. Questioning father and mother fails to satisfy, 
and too frequently awakens a distrust as to the sui^eriority of 
their knowledge. With little at home to feed upon, the mind 
must remain stunted, or else become so dissatisfied with its sur- 
roundings as at the first opportunity to leap the bounds and 
seek new fields for pasturage. 

Finding the difficulty to be of a twofold nature as it affects 
both the social and intellectual sides of life in the country, the 
question presents itself. What can be done to remedy the de- 
fects in country life, to improve the social conditions and 
strengthen and develop the intellectual lives of our rural popu- 
lation ? 

First and foremost, I should say, Construct a system of good 
roads. This lies at the base of all rural life, whether viewed 
from a financial, social, intellectual, or religious standpoint.^ 

Secondly. If property owners, instead of building near the 
centers of their farms, would build on adjacent corners, thus 
forming thickly settled communities or farm villages, there 
would be a great increase in neighborly opportunities for doing 
good and getting good in more ways than would at first appear. 

Thirdly. Kural free delivery of the mails is a constantly 
growing factor in making country life more attractive. As an 
illustration: Our local postmaster informs me that the free de- 
livery has largely increased the volume of mail matter passing 
through this office. There is one carrier who goes out from 
this office, and his route covers a territory about six miles in 
diameter, which before the free delivery was established was 
served exclusively by this post office. The delivery has been in 
operation for six months. Prior to its establishment, the ter- 
ritory covered by it would furnish on an average five or six let- 
ters a day; while at present, about twenty. Then, two mag- 
azines were received; now, there are possibly a half dozen. Then, 
there were no daily papers received; now, there are four. The 
mail matter of that section of the country has been increased 

^See The Methodist Eevifw, Jwly-Aui^np.t, 1896. 



580 THE METHODIST BEVIE^W 

400 or 500 per cent. The carrier's report iov March, 1901, is as 
follows : 

Letters. Postal Cards. Papers. Circulars. Packages. Total. 

Delivered on Route 497 86 1,061 287 87 1,998. 

Collected 464 29 6 513. 

The use of the telephone in our country communities is at 
present in its infancy, but it is destined in the very near future 
to play an important part in our rural life. It is being rapidly 
introduced throughout our country districts, and with great 
satisfaction. As an illustration: One case in Newton county 
(Georgia) presents itself with peculiar interest to me, where a 
number of the Adams family — some eleven households — living 
in a somewhat thickly settled community, have connected their 
homes by a private system of telephones. Such an object les- 
son cannot fail to be beneficial. 

But it is not in the province of this paper to discuss at any 
leugth the social needs of our rural communities, nor to attempt 
even a catalogue of them. We would call attention, rather, to 
some of the difficulties in the way of proper intellectual devel- 
opment. First, then, we would say that the public school sys- 
tem should be improved; and while this paper is not intended 
as a discussion of the public school system, yet a few hints or 
suggestions may not be out of jDlace. 

In some counties, in fact in most counties, we have too many 
schools — falsely so called — wherein one underpaid teacher is 
expected to attempt the impossible, namely, to teach all comers 
between the ages of six and eighteen in all the subjects usually 
catalogued in our graded schools. The human mind, not to say 
human endurance, finds its limit. 

The schools could be made better by relocation. Except 
under unusual circumstances, they should not be less than four 
miles apart. There being fewer schools, better salaries could 
be paid and a better grade of teachers secured. More teachers 
could be placed at one schoolhouse. Instead of two spelling 
shops with one teacher each, receiving the pay assigned a prin- 
cipal, there would be a single school with two teachers; and 
should one receive the pay of an assistant, there would be a 
saving in the salary account. With fewer grades to instruct, 
the teachers could devote more time to each grade, and the in- 
dividual scholar would receive more attention at the teacher's 
hands. 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES. 581 

Sometimes, in a sparsely settled neighborhood, it might be 
cheaper aud better in every way to furnish to the local pupils 
free transportation to a school a few miles removed. At pres- 
ent eighteen states, containing about half the population of 
these United States, have laws allowing free transportation to 
pupils at the public expense. Thirteen of them are making use 
of this privilege. Massachusetts expends large and increasing 
sums annually in this way. During the school year 1889-90 
she paid out $22,000, while in 1898-99, $124,409. 

It is claimed among many other advantages that free trans- 
portation improves the health of the pupils; increases the at- 
tendance from 60 to 150 per cent.; practically abolishes truancy 
and tardiness; creates the greater interest and enthusiasm in 
school work usually attendant upon greater numbers; and in 
drawing more distant communities together tends to promote 
social intercourse. Even where the school is a large one, if 
some of the advanced grades have but few pupils in them it 
might pay to furnish them free transportation to other schools, 
and thus liberate their teacher for belter work with the remain- 
ing grades. Our country schools need very much more money 
expended on them, so as to secure, first, better teachers; sec- 
ondly, the lengthening of the school term to at least seven 
months; and third, the building of better schoolhonses. The 
greater number of the buildings now in use in our rural commu- 
nities are a public reproach. Should they be compared with the 
average barn in the same community, they would suffer badly 
in the comparison. Better equipments, too, are needed, as but 
few schools have comfortable desks, and a still smaller number 
are provided with sufficient blackboards, globes, maps, or charts. 

Is the object of the State, in providing this great machine 
which we call the public school system, to teach our children 
merely to read, write, and cipher; or has it that grander and 
nobler purpose, to teach them to use their God-given mental 
faculties and to think? Mere "going to school" is worth little 
if the habit of thinking and reasoning be not acquired. If this 
latter be the object, then is there necessity to develop and 
strengthen everything which will arouse and quicken mental 
activity in our children, and everything which will make them 
see more clearly the possibilities of their surroundings and 
arouse their interest in the development of the same. 



582 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

Our cliildren in the country stand near to Mother Nature's 
heart, and the study of plant and animal life can be largely 
pursued at first hand. So many of us have eyes, yet we see 
not; hands have we, yet we handle not. We need to use and 
develop the faculties with which we are endowed. The hope 
for broadening and developing the minds of the yonng in our 
rural districts is at present almost entirely in the public school 
teacher, and his most powerful instrument is the cultivation of 
the love of reading. In many cases this love of books needs to 
be developed from a very small beginniug, practically needs to 
be created; in others, it requires but a wise hand to direct it 
into proper channels. As the teacher succeeds in this, so does 
he magnify his position, and multiplies his influence for good; 
so does he add new dignity and self-respect to the high calling 
of a teacher. By his suggestious and counsel many feet may 
be turned into the paths of literature and learning; and without 
his interest and help, the doors of the finest libraries remain 
closed, and ignorance and narrow-mindedness could be traced 
in the dust on its shelves. 

The object of reading should not be amusement alone, but in- 
struction as well. Some parents object to the reading of fairy 
tales and novels by their children; and while the reading of 
fairy tales may be largely a waste of time in the older reader, 
yet in the young it serves to develop the imaginative faculties, 
without which many of the pleasures of life are lost and many 
of its tasks made irksome. While it is true that too much fic- 
tion, like too much i)lay, is hurtful, and will not develop the 
better qualities to the best advantage, yet it must be remem- 
bered that by no other means can many subjects be so vividly 
and clearly presented to the popular attention as through the 
novel. What an influence for evil was that false picture of 
Southern life drawn by Mrs. Stowe in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a 
book largely responsible for one of the most bloody wars of the 
world's history. 

So, by what means can the rising generation be so vividly 
impressed with the indignities attendant upon the reconstruc- 
tion period as by viewing those scenes sketched with a mas- 
terful hand by Page in his "Eed Rock"? Or where is there so 
breathing a picture of that carnival of blood, the French Revolu- 
tion, as is found in the " Tale of Two Cities," by Dickens? The 



COVNTBY LIFE AND TB AVE LING LIBRAE IE S. 583 

books written for boys by Mr. Henty, and sold by the multiplied 
thousands, are but a series of novels traced witli an historic 
background. Such books as those mentioned above tend rather 
to create or develo]p a taste for history than to destroy it. The 
strengthening effect of history and biography is too universally 
recognized to need more than a mere mention, but often the 
history is too dull to attract or interest the untrained mind. 
Many times our histories are so condensed and stripped and 
bare that they are hardly more than skeletons; and I have j^et 
to see the first youngster, male or female, who has any peculiar 
love for graveyards. 

Who can question the broadening effects on the mind which 
travel exerts? The visit to the county site has its effect on the 
young mind, country bred; and if the trip be more extended so 
that it may take in the city at the state fair season, subjects for 
thought and speculation are stored up for future consideration. 
When trips of any length are impossible, a good substitute is 
the reading of some of the many books of travel. Most of such 
works, put on the market in recent years, are written by spe- 
cialists who weave into the story of travel many incidents of 
history and biography. 

The ordinary country home furnishes but little mental food. 
An examination of the tables and shelves would probably bring 
to light these four books: 

1. Some government publication sent by the district con- 
gressman, with purpose rather to influence the vote of pater- 
familias than to furnish mental pabulum to that august person- 
age, or to instruct any one of the household. 

2. The almost unavoidable subscription book, generally made 
for the purpose of sale, composed largely of sickly sugar-coated 
essays on moral or religious subjects, and too frequently illus- 
trated with impossible pictures. What educational value can a 
picture containing a green cow or a purple calf have to a wide- 
awake boy or girl. The matter in the average subscription 
book is about as helpful as an educator to self-reliant, manly 
manhood and womanly womanhood as the study of pink dogs 
and lilac cats in their illustrations would be helpful in the de- 
velopment of true taste in coloring. 

3. The cheap song book, sold by some peripatetic singer; 
made, it is feared, more to be sold than to advance the cause of 



584 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

the Master; filled with all kinds of maudlin sentiments and *' jig- 
ity-jig" tunes, until the children by its common use have but 
little conception of the true nature of the life and mission of the 
Man of Galilee. 

4. The family Bible. This, the Book of books, we find gen- 
erally in an unwieldly size and too handsomely bound for com- 
mon use. The children are forbidden to handle it, for fear of 
scratching its backs or soiling its pages. 

What can a growing mind do for food in such a desert? Can 
we by any stretch of the imagination think that the parents in 
the household are treating their children fairly — are they treat- 
ing themselves fairly? Do their duties stop at providing food 
for the body? They do this much for their calves and pigs. Is 
there no claim for mental food? Is there no desire for intel- 
lectual growth? Books must be furnished. Newspapers and 
magazines may supplement, but must not supersede, books. 

What a blessing to a child is a good book! And if it be 
filled with truthful pictures, its value is by no means lessened. 
Any book does him good if it confirms his observation or quick- 
ens his thought. 

This question, then, presents itself for solution: How can 
books be best brought to the attention of our rural population ? 
(1) Will they be purchased by the readers? We can hardly 
think that there will be many individual purchases until the 
taste for reading is more generally developed and the habit 
more firmly fixed. (2) Can the libraries as at present consti- 
tuted be relied upon to do the work? The great collection of 
books magnificently housed is indeed a powerful instrument for 
good in the land, but that, like the great university, while a 
necessity, can hope to reach but a small part of the people. 

The small local library, by reason of its scanty and uncertain 
income, must needs be limited in its range of subjects and their 
treatment. The few books on its shelves are soon read through, 
and its patron has exhausted its resources before he can have 
attained much intellectual growth. We need, rather, some in- 
strument which, like the common schools, is of such general 
use that all may be without excuse for not making acquaintance 
with the master minds and ruling thoughts of the ages, whether 
expressed in fiction, poetry, philosophy, or science; and the con- 
trolling ideas of the past, whether embodied in men or govern- 



1 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES, 



585 



ments, and lianded down in biography or history. The books, 
to be useful, must be brought near to hand. Books must be 
first brought to the people, if we expect to bring the people to 
books. Food out of reach cannot strengthen. In many cases 
it is necessary not only to put the food in reach, but to coax the 
patient to partake of the nourishment. 

Here comes in the function of the traveling library; and that 
we may better understand its scope and aim, it may be well to 
call attention in more or less detail to some traveling libraries 
now in successful operation. One conspicuous example is the 
" Stout free traveling libraries " of Wisconsin. Mr. Stout, find- 
ing out by inquiry that the books in a large town library were 
of "but little use to the country population on account of the 
difficulty of obtaining and returning books, instituted at his own 
expense a system of traveling libraries which could be carried 
to the homes of the people, where they would be of easy access 
to the rural population. The State Library Commission of 
Wisconsin has acted too on the same lines. Each library cod- 
tains about thirty volumes, packed in a portable bookcase, and 
is sent out on payment of a fee of one dollar to local library 
associations. They are usually kept in some farmhouse, coun- 
try store, or post office: fully two-thirds of the traveling libra- 
ries are kept in farmhouses. 

Mr. Frank A. Hutchins, secretary of the Wisconsin Free Li- 
brary Commission, writes as follows: 

The traveHng library gives an abundant supply of wholesome literature 
to the people in small communities at a slight cost, and not only excites 
their interest in such literature, but confines their reading to it until their 
tastes are formed. It is a free day and night school, which does not close 
on Saturdays or Sundays or for long vacations. It instructs, inspires, and 
amuses the old as well as the young, and its curriculum is so broad that it 
helps the housewife in the kitchen, the husband in the field, the mechanic 
in his shop, the teacher in her school, the invalid in the sick room, the boy 
in his play, and the citizen in his civic duties. It leaves no room for bad 
literature, and keeps it from circulating without resort to threats, by the 
most natural and wholesome methods. 

Possibly New York has the most elaborate system of travel- 
ing libraries in the United States. Mr. Herbert B. Adams, of 
Johns Hopkins University, in a recent Home Education Bulle- 
tin issued by the University of the State of New York, has this 
description of the system; 



586 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

At the present time the state of New York not only nobly encourages 
schools, colleges, and universities, extension teaching and study clubs, but 
popularizes the public library and extends it to the very hamlets and homes 
of the people. 

Traveling libraries are now lent by the state library in Albany to any 
public library on application by its trustees, provided the library is in the 
university system. Any community not yet possessing a public library, on 
application of twenty-five resident taxpayers, can receive a traveling library 
to serve as a nucleus. The same privilege is extended to schools, extension 
centers, clubs, and, if funds permit, to granges, lodges, and other organiza- 
tions having special need of books. Certain guarantees, fees, or deposits are 
required. The usual fee is one dollar for each twenty-five volumes, paid in 
advance. Schools are allowed to retain the library till the end of the current 
academic year. Other educational organizations, like Chautauqua, return 
the books when the educational course or study period is ended. 

There are in New York several different kinds of traveling hbraries, gen- 
eral and special, altogether about five hundred. Some are selected for gen- 
eral circulation in the community, and some for the special use of a study 
club. There are young people's libraries; selections of juvenile literature; 
academic libraries for schools and colleges; agricultural libraries for farm- 
ers' institutes ; and teachers' libraries. 

Communities preferring a considerable variety of books to suit varying 
tastes may take more than one library at a time, and thus popular demand 
for a public library is rapidly produced. On the other hand, local clashes or 
study clubs in some special branch of history, literature, art, or science are 
fostered by a select library on one great subject. The writer has seen such 
special collections on French history, American history, political economy, 
etc. Unless one has witnessed the stimulating effect of the traveling library 
on a rural community or study club, he cannot fully realize the beneficial 
influence of this modern instrument of popular education. 

Several other states, notably Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, 
have systems of traveling libraries coDducted on an extensive 
scale, with more or less difference in the details; but New York, 
cited above, may serve as a type for them all. It might be more 
profitable to consider the subject in its relation to some one of 
the Southern states, say Georgia, and use as an object lesson 
work being done on this line in some section of that state. 

The board of education in Newton county (Georgia) has for 
a number of years had a reference and circulating library lo- 
cated in the office of the school commissioner, for the use of the 
teachers in the public schools; but its usefulness has been lim- 
ited. Two years ago (1899), having a small amount of money 
available, it was determined to make an experiment in the way 
of furnishing small collections of books to the various schools 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES, 587 

of the county. It was Loped that with their use habits of read- 
ing would bo formed by the pupils, and that finally through 
the pupils the community at large might have a better appre- 
ciation of books. The board was greatly handicapped in the 
selection of books, (1) by the smallness of the money avail- 
able; (2) by the fact that the greater part of the better 
class of juvenile books are relatively high priced, all being 
copyrighted; and (3) that most of the readers to be provided 
for Avere either very young or else had received but little intel- 
lectual training. 

When the books were received, they were sorted out in col- 
lections from thirty to fifty, and placed in boxes. The boxes 
are 28x10x7 inches inside measurement; the corners are bound 
with iron; they have handles on each end, and have uniform 
locks. .Each teacher is provided with a key. The libraries are 
locked in the commissioner's office, and can be olDened only by 
the teacher's key. The size and shape of the box make it con- 
venient to handle and to transport, it being of such size that it 
can easily be carried in the foot of a buggy. When a school has 
had the use of a library for six weeks or two months, the box is 
locked and returned to the office of the county school commis- 
sioner, who then issues another. 

The idea at first was to have the libraries transferred from 
one school to another; but this was discarded, and it was thought 
best to adopt the plan used by the telephone systems in our 
cities— one central office, with the circuit radiating from it; so 
each library must be returned to the commissioner's office lo- 
cated in the county courthouse, where it can be exchanged for 
another. Constantly passing from community to county site 
makes this a method of exchange eifected with greater ease and 
convenience than that of sending on the library from school to 
school; while it affords the commissioner opportunity for a bet- 
ter supervision of his cases and their contents, and the better 
adaptation of library to community. 

There are twenty-seven white schools in the county, and at 
present thirty-eight libraries. In each library is a Webster's 
Academic Dictionary, and by way of a general reference work 
that multum in parvo, "The World's Almanac." Besides these 
two, not many books are duplicated in the thirty-eight boxes 
composing the system. An idea of the scope of these libraries 



588 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

can be obtained from lists of the contents of some of them. I 
liave selected at random boxes Nos. 2i and 36: 

Contents of Box No. 24. — Webster's Academic Dictionary; History of 
Germany in words of one syllable; Knock AVjout Club in North Africa; 
Three Vassar Girls in the Holy Land; A Boy of the First Empire, Brooks; 
The Knights of the Round Table; Little Women, Alcott; Mohun, John Es- 
ten Cooke; Lorna Doon, Blackmore; Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens; Thrift, 
Smiles; Child's History of England, Dickens; Tour of the World; Children 
of the Abbey; Twilight Stories; In Story Land; Tanglewood Tales, Haw- 
thorne; Plutarch's Lives; Alice in Wonderland, Carroll; Child's Garden of 
Verses, Stevenson; The Best Letters of Lord Chesterfield; Mother Goose; 
Ten Times One is Ten; Child's Story of the Bible, Foster; Stories of En- 
gland; Science Ladders, Vol. L; Queer Stories for Boys and Girls; Young 
Folks' Recitations; Cats and Dogs; Animal Li!e; Songs and Stories; Fairy 
Life; Chatterbox, 1898 ; The Yemassee, Simms; Christmas Stories, Dickens; 
Robinson Crusoe, De Foe; Lay of the Last Minstrel, Scott; The World's Al- 
manac, 1900; Life of Hannibal; Life of Nero. 

Contents of Box No. 36. — Webster's Academic Dictionary ; Zigzag Jour- 
neys in the Occident; Roman Life in the Days of Cicero; The Dragon and 
the Raven, Henty; Life of Robert E. Lee; Life of Crockett; History of 
Spain; Life of Pyrrhus; Poe's Poetical Yv^orks; Lorna Doone, Blackmore; 
Peter the Pilgrim; Bride of Lammermoor, Scott; Vicar of Wakefield, Gold- 
smith; The Cat of Bubastes, Henty; Animal Land; First Steps in Scientific 
Knowledge; Social Evenings; The Burial of the Guns, Page; Stories of 
Great Americans; Bracebridge Hall, Irving; Stories of Industry, Vol. I.; 
Storyland of Stars; Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; Stories for Little 
Readers; In Mythland; The Last Days of Pompeii, Bulwer; Enoch Arden, 
Tennyson; A New Baby World; Chatterbox, 1898; The World's Almanac. 

On the inside of the top of each box is a list of the books 
contained in that library, and also a co\)y of the rules governing 
the conduct of the library. The following are the rules which 
have been used most satisfactorily: 

1. The teacher, or some pupil appointed by the teacher, shall act as li- 
brarian. 

2. The teacher shall in either case have the general supervision of the 
books, and see that they are not unnecessarily injured or lost. 

3. No book can be taken from the library until it has been charged to the 
borrower, on the library record book, by the teacher or librarian. 

4. No person will be allowed to have out more than one book at a time. 

5. No book can be kept out of the library by any person longer than two 
weeks at a time. 

6. When a book is kept out over time, a fine must be paid at the rate of 
one-half cent a day for each day over two weeks. 

7. Any one failing to pay a fine within ten days after it is due, or faihng 
to have a book properly charged to his or her name by the librarian, at the 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES. 5S9 

time of taking it from the library, will forfeit all right to the use of the li- 
brary for one month for each oifense. 

8. All right to the use of the library is withdrawn from any one damag- 
ing any part of said library, until damage has been made good. 

The boxes will be sent oat to schools when they may be in operation, 
and must be returned to the office of the county school commissioner when 
the school closes, if the vacation be longer than two weeks. 

Upon receipt of a box the teacher must see that it contains the booka 
that belong to it as per the printed list accompanying, and then receipt for 
the same by entering his or her name and the date received in the record 
book accompanying the box. If any books are missing, the teacher should 
make the proper exceptions before signing, and promptly report such short- 
age to the commissioner. 

The teacher must keep in the above-mentioned record book an accurate 
record of each book taken out, noting the name of the pupil, the title of the 
book, the date taken out, and the date returned. 

The good accomplished by the library will depend in a great measure on 
the teachers. They should themselves carefully examine the books, and see 
that proper selections are made by the individual pupils according to their 
grades and needs. 

The teacher will be held responsible for the circulation of the books; see 
that none are lost, and all returned on time. Negligence on the teacher's 
part will greatly retard the accomplishment of the good for which the li- 
brary has been instituted. 

These libraries have been available to our public schools for 
about two years, and their success has been marked. Possibly 
the best means of show^ing their reception and capabilities is by 
introducing the testimony of a few witnesses — teachers in the 
schools of Newton county, who have had the libraries in their 
schools. 

The following is from J. A. Cowan, principal of Mansfield 
school: 

We have used a number of boxes from what is known as the traveling 
school library. To say that we are pleased with their use, is to put it very 
mildly. 

A very large majority of the pupils read these books. They are also 
sought after by those not in school. 

Their first and most immediate eflect is upon the order of the school- 
room. They help in a large measure to solve the question of how to keep 
order in the room. The children are anxious to finish lessons assigned so as 
to put spare time on their favorite books. Thus work for all, all the time, is 
furnished for the dull as well as for the most apt. 

Another most notable effect is upon the children tbemselve?:, as shown 
by the improvement in their use of language, together with their increased 
taste for good literature. 



590 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

A last but not least good result from use of the library is the increasing 
demand for and use of the dictionary. 

The ouly suggestion we would ofler is that we trust the board may see its 
way clear to increase their number. 

The following is from Mortimer Hays, principal of Hayston 
school : 

Tiie books are doing much good in my school. I can see that the chil- 
dren's minds are enriched, as evidenced by the frequent allusion, in ordi- 
nary conversation, to what they have read. Their appreciation of the 
thought in their reading lessons is much increased by the library. 

The intellectual attainment of country children upon the whole is not 
coequal with that of the cities and towns. Many physically large pupils are 
tiny little folks from a literary standpoint. The library furnishes good in- 
tellectual food for tliese infants. 

The general interest manifested is very pleading to me. Parents request 
through their children that I send a book which they themselves would 
like to read. I have been called upon for books by those not directly inter- 
ested in the school. We are sure that very much good is being done in our 
community. 

Another from Miss Josie Webb, teaclier of \Yoodlawn scliool: 

The number of books read increases w-ith each successive library, and as 
the pupils become better acquainted with the books and more accustomed 
to reading them. 

I think every child in school who could read at all, with possibly one or 
two exceptions, read some of the books. Several of the very small children, 
who had not yet learned to read the books, were eager to take them home 
for their parents to read to them. 

I think the libraries are certainly doing good for my school in creating a 
taste for good reading among both pupils and patrons, which I am glad to 
see tlie;/ are cultivating. 

The following is from Miss Maggie L. Webb, principal of 
Jefferson Academy: 

I am very much pleased to state that the books have awakened the inter- 
est of my pupils to a great extent. They especially delight in nature stories. 
After having read the books, they like to ask questions about different 
plants and animals, and also examine the difierent objects themselves and 
tell what they have learned. 

All my pupils read the books, and some of my patrons read them. 

Many children have an opportunity for cultivating a taste for good litera- 
ture who otherwise would not, if it were not for the wise action of the board 
of education in providing the schools with the traveling libraries. 

G. C. Adams, principal of the Pine Grove Academy, writes 
as follows: 

I feel sure that the pupils are benefited. Often they have bits of infor- 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES, 591 



mation which they get from the books. Of course the influence is like the 
growth of a sturdy oak, very slow; but surely much good will be derived 
from th-e books in the end. 

About fifty per cent, of the patrons read the books. Some of them send 
word to me that they enjoy reading them very much. 

I think, with some help from teachers, these libraries will become intel- 
lectual levers which will lift the communities in which they are used upon 
a higher moral and educational plane. One patron who is too deaf to enjoy 
conversation enjoys reading during the long winter evenings. Sometimes 
when we have mincellaneous discussions on Friday afternoons, the pupils 
relate stories that they have read in some library book. 

The following is from H. B. Adams, principal of Brickstore 
Academy: 

I believe the libraries are doing a great good in my school. It arouses 
and stimulates a love for good books, something that has heretofore been 
sadly neglected in our country schools. 

A few of the parents take an interest in the library. 

Some of my pupils read some of the books so much that they have just 
worn them out. 

The small ones think it quite an honor to have read a book, and so they 
go right at it as soon as they can read a little in the first reader. 

The following is from Thomas J. Gardner, principal of Gum 
Creek school: 

The libraries excite an interest in even the dullest pupils for reading and 
a love for learning. 

Even the people not patrons of my school take great interest in reading 
the biographies and travels, and get information on any general line. 

People who have had very meager advantages along educational lines 
avail themselves of the opportunity of reading a free library. 

A very poar widowed lady sent to me tlie other day to know if she might 
have a book to read. 

The benefit and appreciation of books cannot be too highly estimated by 
the school and the community at large. 

The following is from J. D. Cornwell, principal of the school 
at Starrsville: 

The pupils who read seem to have a better command of language, and 
seem to better understand explanations. Discipline is easier, as pupils when 
they have learned their lessons will read a book instead of doing something 
that would be of less profit to them. 

The books are not only read by pupils, but by other members of the 
family. 

In most communities there are very few books except the libraries. 

When the pupils have read the book^ in one library, they won't l<'t the 
teacher have any peace until he gets anotlier. 



592 THE METHODIST REVIEW. 

Dr. J. E. Martin, patron of Hopewell school, writes as follows: 
I cannot say how much interest is shown by the community at large in 
the books. I myself have read a book in the school library that I had heard 
of all my life but never had an opporf unity to read before. It certainly is 
Hie easiest and cheapest wa}'' of obtaining a quantity of good reading and 
doing the most good to the greatest number with the same amount of 
moiiey. 

I have always thought that Mr. Carnegie could do more good in this way 
than in contributing to the cities which have so many advantages anyway. 

A consolidation of reports from nine schools shows the fol- 
lowing to be the order of popularity of subjects: (1) biography, 
(2) adventure, (3) fiction, (4) history, (5) nature, (6) travel, 
(7) miscellaneous, (8) i3oetry. It shows also that ninety per 
cent, of the books contained in the libraries are read, and that 
ninety-six per cent, of the pupils read the books. 

Testimony has been introduced above irojn more than one- 
fourth of the white schools of Newton county, which should be 
a sufficiently large percentage to demonstrate the usefulness of 
the libraries in our rural communities. Since this experiment 
made v/ithin the limits of a count}^ has proved a success, I would 
suggest an enlargement of the scheme into a system of travel- 
ing libraries which would cover the entire state. 

Let each county board of education have its own system of 
libraries suited to its peculiar needs and maintained at its own 
expense; bat in addition to these, there should be a system of 
traveling libraries belonging to all the counties in common and 
subject to the call of any individual county when wanted. In 
this way, special collections of books on selected subjects, fre- 
quently too costly to be purchased by each county for its own 
system of libraries, would be available at but slight expense to 
the individual county. A community having a study club, a 
debating society, a farmers' club, or in fact any association for 
mutual improvement, could be furnished with selected reading- 
matter bearing directly upon the subject to be considered, and 
that too from the leaders of thought in that j^articular realm. 
For instance, special collections could be made for study clubs 
suitable for the study of history in general or of any country in 
particular, as France; or of any special period in that country's 
history, as the French Revolution, or the rule of Napoleon; so 
that, according to the minuteness of the investigation to be 
pursued., from thirty to fifty volumes of selected reading-matter 



COUNTRY LIFE AND TRAVELING LIBRARIES. 593 

might be furnished bearing directly on the subject being con- 
sidered. So collections could be made covering hundreds of 
other subjects, such as farming, in general; sheep and cattle 
raising; corn, cotton, and tobacco culture; hay and grain crops; 
manures and soils; intensive farming; dairying; household 
economics; child study; social science; finance; free trade and 
protection; education; teachers' methods; American literature; 
German history; Spanish war; Monroe doctrine; and so on, ad 
iiifinitiun. 

These libraries should be equipped by a library commission 
appointed by the governor, the state school superintendent be- 
ing an ex ojjicio member and the executive officer. The head- 
quarters of these libraries should be the state school superin- 
tendent's office, and they should be sent out only on requisition 
of the county school superintendent, and he should be held re- 
sponsible for the same. 

The teacher of the public school in each community should 
be the local librarian, giving out and receiving individual books, 
and responsible to the county school superintendent; the local 
librarian to hold the individual borrower responsible for any 
infraction of the library rules. 

The machinery for such a system is already in existence, and 
the whole scheme could be set in operation at a cost of less 
than one per cent, of the public school appi'opriation. Nothing 
would be more helpful to tlie educational interests of the people 
at large, or tend more to strengthen and popularize the present 
public school system. 

With books to read, the rainy day on the farm need no longer 
be an object of dread; the long winter evenings would become 
a time of intellectual growth. A common bond of interest 
would unite parent and child, and intervals of rest and recrea- 
tion would be made more pleasant by the discussion of topics 
suggested or enlivened with new interest by their reading. The 
specter of lonesomeness which now haunts the housewife would 
in a large measure be dispelled. The children reared far from 
the petty jealousies and social dissipations and vices of town 
life, breathing the healthy and moral atmosphere of the farm, 
and witji mind andlieart open to receive the truth, would de- 
velop (^1 normal, natural lines into intellectual beings stamped 
with the image of their Maker. 
38 



594 THE METHODIST REVIEW, 

Improved surroundings would cause the present dissatisfac- 
tion with farm life in a large measure to disappear. Intellec- 
tual quickening would in turn cause growth in many lines. 
Study clubs, debating societies, lyceums, lectures, concerts, and 
other means of improvement and recreation, would follow in 
time to add their charms to rural life; that purest, noblest, most 
independent, most ideal of all lives — the life of a country gen- 
tleman. 

So would we take the various influences emanating from our 
country churches and public schools, stretching from side to 
side of our rural communities, and through them would we send 
back and forth the tiny shuttles called traveling libraries, weav- 
ing these bright threads into a noble mental fabric which shall 
clothe our people as with a garment 



H 64-84, 



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